TO THE FLOWER G^IRDEX. 11 



young plants should be selected in March, and shifted into 

 larger pots as they grow, the stronger branches being stopped 

 to make the plants bushy : they should be grown in a green- 

 house or a well-glazed frame. The plants require plenty of 

 air, and to be kept from frost in winter. A. acutifoUa, flowers 

 scarlet. A. incisifolia, flowers scarlet. A. linearis, flowers 

 scarlet. A. Warczewiczii, scarlet and yellow. 



ALOYSIA. [Verbenaceee.] Half-hardy deciduous shrub, 

 with a beautiful lemon-like fragrance. It is usually kept in 

 pots in the greenhouse, and forced for the sake of sprigs for 

 cutting in spring, as an addition to bouquets. The plant is 

 hardy at the foot of a wall ; at least, if the branches are 

 killed down by frost in winter, they are renewed from the 

 root in summer. Soil, rich garden mould, or, for pots, sandy 

 loam and leaf- mould. Propagated freely by cuttings. The 

 only one cultivated is A. citriodora. 



ALSTRCEMERIA. [Amaryllidace^e.] Half-hardy fleshy- 

 rooted perennial herbs, producing very ornamental flow^ers. 

 The species and numerous varieties, almost without exception, 

 grow freely on a warm border at the foot of a wall, if the 

 surface is slightly covered in winter, although many of them 

 have been called stove plants. Soil, deep rich loam. The 

 roots should be planted six or eight inches deep, and must be 

 kept moist while growing : they require some kind of 

 support as they push up their stems. Propagated by seeds, 

 which should be sown in pots thinly as soon as ripe, and 

 kept in a frame, the young plants being carefully protected 

 from frost. The second season they may be planted out. 

 They are also increased by separating the bundles of fleshy 

 roots, which are furnished with crowns or growing buds at 

 their upper end. They may be grown in pots, in rich sandy 

 loam, the roots being planted while dormant at once into the 

 blooming pots, which should not be less than a foot in 

 diameter, and should contain several plants. A. caryopliyllcea, 

 often called A. ligtu, is a stove perennial, and is cultivated 

 in the same way, only it requires stove heat. It, as indeed 

 all the kinds, should be dormant, and kept moderately 

 dry in winter. (See also Bomarea.) The varieties are very 

 numerous. 



ALTH^A. Marsh Mallow. [Malvaceae.] Hardy 



