CLIMBI^-G PLANTS. 



65 



CLINTOXIA 



and "well supplied "witli air, light, 

 and water, with abundance of room 

 for its roots, the rapidity of its 

 growth, and the splendour of its 

 flowers, will almost surpass belief ; 

 but unless these points are attended 

 to, the plant is scarcely worth grow- 

 ing. 



Climate is the grand regulator 

 of vegetable culture ; and the garden 

 or landscape scenery -<jf every coun- 

 try depends far more on the climate 

 of that country than on its soil. In 

 modern times the climates of all 

 other coimtries are imitated by hot- 

 houses ; a practice scarcely, if at all, 

 known to the ancients. In imita- 

 ting a climate, it is not only neces- 

 sary to attend to tempei'ature, but 

 equally so to light, and, to a cer- 

 tain extent, to the moisture of the 

 atmosphere, and to the motion of 

 the air and its change. Heat is 

 communicated to plant-structures 

 by the decomposition of fermenting 

 substances, and by the combustion 

 of fuel, operating by means of 

 smoke or heated air in flues, or by 

 water cii-culated in pipes, either in 

 a fluid state or in an aeriform 

 state, as steam ; or by the heat of 

 the sun passing through glass, and 

 heating air which is not allowed to 

 escape. The last mode is never 

 wanting, whichever of the former 

 modes may be adopted. The moist - 

 tire of the atmosphere in plant- 

 structures is maintained by water- 

 ing the plants ; and by keeping the 

 surface of the ground and floor 

 more or less moistened with water, 

 according to the height of the tem- 

 perature. The motion of the air is 

 efiected by ventilation, and opening 

 the doors and windows of the plant- 

 houses, so as to create a current 

 through them, whenever the wea- 

 ther will permit . 



Climbing Plants are those 

 plants that raise themselves from 



the ground by attaching themselves 

 to whatever objects may be near 

 them. One class of climbers attach 

 themselves by tendrils, such as the 

 Vine and the Passion-flower ; others 

 by the foot-stalks of leaves, as in 

 the Nasturtium, and some species 

 of Clematis ; another class twine 

 their stems round objects such as 

 the Convolvulus ; while some at- 

 tach themselves by small root-like 

 bodies, such as the common Ivy, and 

 the Ampelopsis, orYirginian Ci'eeper, 

 and othe^'3 raise themselves by 

 ascending through other plants, such 

 as the common Nightshade in hedges, 

 and the plant called the Duke of 

 Argyle's Tea-tree, Lycium hdr- 

 barum. The twiners may be sup- 

 ported by single rods ; but all the 

 others, excepting those which sup- 

 port themselves in the manner of 

 the Ivy, require branched stakes, 

 such as the sticks put into rows of 

 peas ; while plants of the nature of 

 Ivy requii-e a wall, a rock, or the 

 rugged trunk of a tree. In general, 

 aU climbing plants, when they are 

 not furnished with the means of 

 raising themselves up, extend their 

 shoots along the surface of the 

 ground, when they become what are 

 called trailers ; or they root into it 

 like the Ivy, and become what are 

 called creepers. Climbing plants are 

 of great use in gardening, for cover- 

 ing^walls, ornamenting trelKs-work, 

 arcades, verandahs, ornamental 

 props, in the form of cones, pyra- 

 mids, parasols, &:c. 



Clinto'nia. — Loheliacece. — Beau- 

 tiful little annuals, flowering pro- 

 fusely the whole summer. They are 

 natives of California, but will bear 

 heat better than the generality of 

 annuals from that country. They 

 are generally raised on a hc'tbed (the 

 seeds being sown in February), and 

 planted out in May ; but they may 

 be sown in the open border in April. 



