TO THE FLOWER GARDEN. 881 



PLAGIOLOBIUM. [Leguminos*, § Papilionacese.] 

 Greenhouse evergreen shrubs, with purple flowers. Sandy, 

 fibry peat. Cuttings in sand under a bell-glass. 



PLANTAIN TREE. See Musa. 



PLANTIA. [Iridaceae.] Greenhouse bulb. Sandy loam. 

 Offsets or seeds. F. flava, flowers yellow. 



PLATYCODON. [Campanulaceae.] Very beautiful half- 

 bardy perennials, with fleshy roots, which are liable to suffer 

 from excess of damp. Sandy loam, well enriched for the 

 mature plants. Propagated most favourably by seeds. P. 

 Chinense is the only one we cultivate : the colours vary from 

 white to all the shades of blue. 



PLATYLOBIUM. [Leguminosse, § Papilionaceae.] Green- 

 house evergreen shrubs. Fibry peat, with a little sandy 

 loam. Cuttings in sand under a bell-glass, or seeds. P.for- 

 mosum and P. triangidare flower yellow. 



PLATYLOMA. [Polypodiaceae.] Greenhouse or half-hardy 

 evergreen ferns. Turfy loam and peat. Division. P. atro- 

 purpurea, half hardy; P. Broiniii, P. calomelanos, P. cordata, 

 P. falcata, P. rotundifolia, are the chief varieties. 



iPLATYSTEMON. [Papaveraceae.] Pretty annuals of 

 prostrate habit : they like a cool situation and a peaty soil, 

 but will grow in any rich light earth. Sow about the middle 

 of April. P. Calif or iiicum, flowers sulphur yellow. 



PLATYSTIGMA. [Papaveracese.j Half-hardy peren- 

 nials, allied to Platystemon. Light soil. Seeds or division. 

 P. lineare, yellow. 



PLEROMA. [MelastomacesD.] Beautiful stove shrubs, 

 closely allied to Melastoma. P. elegans is a beautiful species, 

 requiring a temperature intermediate between a stove and 

 a greenhouse, but may be grown very well in a greenhouse 

 if carefully sheltered in the colder parts of the year, and 

 under such treatment bears much richer-coloured flowers than 

 in a higher temj)erature. Soil, peat and loam. Cuttings. 



PLUM. See Peunus. 



PLUMBAGO. Leadwort. [Phimbaginaceae.] Pretty 

 plants, with flowers somewhat like those of the Phlox. The 

 majority are shrubs. Some few are herbaceous, among which 

 is P. LarpentcB, which is hardy, of dwarf compact habit, and 

 suitable for rockwork. P. Capensis is a desirable greenhouse 



