CHAPTER VIII 

 PLANTS WITH ORNAMENTAL FRUITS 



There are not many plants with ornamental fruits which are 

 suitable for pots. The majority do not bear until they are 

 too large for the purpose. Some of the best are given here. 

 They have one great advantage for the decoration of green- 

 houses or rooms. The fruits generally last a good deal longer 

 than flowers do, and they are not so liable to be injured by 

 dust or other atmospheric impurities. 



At the same time, it is easy to bring them down prematurely 

 by mismanagement. It has already been mentioned that 

 flowers and fruit are produced at the end of the cycle of 

 growth, and though in the case of a few species the fruit may 

 hang for many months — even until the flowers appear again 

 — it drops in the case of most before the next cycle commences. 

 If, therefore, growth is started by the stimulation of food or 

 a high temperature, it is almost certain to bring down the 

 fruit. Carelessness or neglect will have the same effect. The 

 plants must be kept in a healthy condition. As they are not 

 growing they do not want food or much water, but the soil 

 must not be allowed to get dry. 



Ardisia crenulata. — An exceedingly handsome ever- 

 green shrub with bunches of purplish flowers in July, followed 

 by beautiful coral berries, which with care remain on the 

 plants for many months. If seed is sown in a warm green- 

 house early in March, and the seedlings are potted as soon as 

 they are large enough and grown on with plenty of moisture — 

 syringed frequently in hot weather — they will flower and fruit 

 the first year. When the plants are old they lose their lower 

 leaves, and should then he cut down nearly to the soil in 

 spring. In a suitable temperature they will soon grow again. 



