332 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
THUNBERGIA. 
THIBAUDIA. 
A genus of pretty evergreen shrubs, the 
most desirable kinds of which may be 
grown under greenhouse treatment, but 
are better for a little more warmth in the 
winter than the generality of plants culti- 
vated in such structures usually receive. 
They can be propagated by shoot cut- 
tings struck in an ordinary way, and grown 
on under conditions such as answer for 
other warm greenhouse subjects. Peat 
soil, to which a moderate amount of sand 
is added, is best for them. They should 
have plenty of light all through the grow- 
ing season to thoroughly ripen their wood, 
upon which depends the production of the 
full quantity of bloom. The flowers of all 
the undermentioned kinds are tubular in 
shape, and when the plants are well man- 
aged they are produced in such quantities 
as to render them effective. 
T. acuminata. A free-blooming species 
that keeps on producing its red flowers for 
a considerable time during the spring 
months. It comes from Ecuador. 
T. Jussieei. <A large-leaved species, the 
flowers, red in colour, are borne in bunches 
in spring. From the Caraccas. 
T. macrantha. A handsome species, 
bearing in spring quantities of pretty red 
and white flowers. Introduced from Moul- 
mein. 
InsEcts.—Red spider is often trouble- 
some on these plants in summer if due 
attention is not given them by a regular 
use of the syringe. Aphides sometimes 
affect the young shoots, and can best be 
got rid of by fumigation. 
THRINAX. 
In this genus we find some of the hand- 
somest of stove Palms known to culti- 
vators ; they attain a medium size, but are 
several years before getting too large to 
be accommodated in a house of ordinary 
dimensions. They will thrive in an inter- 
mediate temperature. 
The method of propagation and after 
management will be found under Palms, 
general details of culture. 
T. barbadensis. A handsome, free-grow- 
ing stove species that attains a moderate 
size ; the leaves are fan-shaped, and divided 
on the margin. Very pretty in a small 
state. It comes from Barbadoes. 
T. multiflora. A beautiful stove species 
that requires a good deal of room, as it ac- 
quires age the leaves extend so as to cover 
a considerable space ; they are fan-shaped, 
deeply divided at the margin ; the under 
surface is white. From Central America. 
T. parviflora. This is a smaller grower 
than the preceding kind ; the stem, leaf- 
stalk, and leaf-blade all being much smaller, 
the margin of the leaves is deeply divided. 
It is a very effective plant. From the West 
Indies. 
T. radiata (syn.: T. elegans). This also 
is a stove species, and one of the hand- 
somest of the genus. It attains a medium 
size, the leaves are palmate, shining green 
in colour, and deeply divided at the margin. 
From the West Indies. 
THUNBERGIA. 
There are several stove species of this 
family well deserving of more general cul- 
tivation than they receive. They are 
evergreen climbers of vigorous habit, and 
particularly suited to a large house where 
their free, vigorous growth has scope for 
extension, as it is under such conditions 
that their pendent branches and handsome 
flowers are seen to advantage. In small 
structures where there arises the necessity 
for a continuous use of the knife to keep 
them within bounds, they have little 
chance of displaying their natural habit 
of flowering, and it is on this account most 
likely that the plants get an indifferent 
reputation, and are comparatively seldom 
met with. Most of the species worth 
growing can be raised from seeds, but 
as these plants, in common with many 
things of a vigorous habit, do not often 
produce seed under cultivation, it is neces- 
sary to obtain imported seeds when they 
are raised in this way, and, as they propa- 
gate readily from cuttings, it is well to 
confine the details of their increase to this 
method. After the plants have been cut 
in during winter and have again broken 
into growth, when the shoots have reached 
a length of 4 inches take them off witha 
heel and insert them singly in small pots, 
drained, and half filled with sandy soil, 
the remainder all sand; keep them moist 
and close under a propagating glass in a 
temperature of 70°. They will root in a 
few weeks ; then remove the glass, and as 
soon as the little pots contain a fair amount 
of roots shift to others 6 inches or 7 inches 
in diameter. It is not of much consequence 
whether peat or loam is used to grow them 
in, as from their free habit they will suc- 
ceed in either ; although, as we have be- 
fore said in speaking of vigorous-habited 
stove subjects, they generally bloom freer 
in good loam than in peat. Use the soil 
in a rougher condition than is necessary 
for weaker-rooted things. The plants, 
being climbers, will, as they get fairly into 
growth, need a stick each for support; 
