DESCRIPTIONS, CULTURE, PROPAGATION, Etc., 

 OF PLANTS WITH BULBS, CORMS, TUBERS, 

 TUBEROUS ROOTS, OR RHIZOMES 



Arranged in Alphabetical Order. 



ABOBRA (the native Brazilian 

 name). Nat. Ord, Cucurbitaceae. — 

 The best-known species is — ■ 



A. viridiflora. — A Brazilian climber 

 with fleshy tuberous roots, and dark 

 glossy green elegant leaves, sweet- 

 scented pale green flowers, the females 

 of which are succeeded by oval scarlet 

 fruits about the size of a filbert. 



This plant may be grown in the 

 open air during the summer months, 

 and in the autumn the tuberous 

 roots may be lifted and stored in 

 dry earth or sand in the same Avay as 

 Dahlias. In warm sheltered spots in 

 the south and west, if the roots are 

 protected from cold rains, they may 

 be allowed to remain in the soil, but 

 this should be of a rich and gritty 

 nature. The plants grow rapidly 

 and soon trail over fences, arbours, 

 trellises, etc. To secure a good 

 display of the scarlet fruits, it is 

 advisable to grow male and female 

 plants together. Increased by divi- 

 sion, seeds, and cuttings of the young 

 shoots in spring. 



ACHlMENFiS {cheimaino, to suffer 

 from cold). Nat. Ord. Gesneraceai. 

 — A genus of hairy perennial herbs, 

 closely related to the Gloxinias, and 

 natives of Tropical America, chiefly 

 from Brazil to Mexico. There are 



about twenty species, having under- 

 ground, scaly, catkin -like rhizomes, 

 opposite leaves, a five-lobed corolla 

 with a bent cylindrical tube, to the 

 base of which four stamens are 

 attached. 



Achimenes were at one time more 

 extensively grown than they are at 



Fig. 33.— Achimenes tuhifiora. 



present. The varieties in cultivation 

 have been raised by crossing and 

 inter-crossing a few of the best 



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