THYMUS, 



J15 



TILLANDSIA. 



treated as either a greenhouse or a 

 stove plant it is very apt to be 

 covered with the red spider (see 

 A'CARirs) ; but these insects seldom 

 appear upon it when it is grown in 

 the open air. T. laurifolia is a 

 very handsome species, with large 

 blue flowers ; and T. Harrisli is a 

 most sj-ilendid species, with blue and 

 yellow flowers. "When treated as an 

 annual, the seeds should be sown in 

 January on a slight hotbed, or in a 

 sheltered situation in the open 

 ground. The best soil for them is 

 equal parts of peat and silver sand, 

 to which a little vegetable mould 

 may be added. The soil should be 

 kept moist, but it should be well 

 drained, as the plants will perish if 

 either kept too dry or suffered to 

 have their roots in stagnant water. 

 When planted in the open air where 

 they are finally to remain, the long 

 shoots should be pegged down at the 

 joints all over the bed ; and thus 

 treated they will send up innume- 

 rable flower-stalks, so as to make the 

 whole bed appear a mass of flowers. 

 T. auraniiaca may be treated in 

 the same manner ; but T. a. alhi- 

 fibra is rather more tender, and 

 appears generally to succeed better 

 in a greenhouse than in the open 

 air. When these plants are grown 

 ill a stove, and beset with the red 

 spider, the only way to destroy it is 

 to syringe them with water heated 

 to 120°. The other species of Thun- 

 bergia are always kept in the stove, 

 and I believe have never been 

 treated as annuals, though most of 

 them seed freely. They are grown 

 in loam and peat, and are propa- 

 gated by cuttings. 



Thyme. — See Thy'mus. 



Thy'mus. Lahiatce. ■ The 



Thyme. — Fragrant dwarf shrubs, 

 very suitable for rock-work. T. 

 grandijldrus is perhaps tbe most 

 ornamental. They should be grown 



in light rich soil, and are increased 

 by dividing the root. 

 I Thysano'tus. — AsphodeJece. — 

 j Australian plants, with very singu- 

 1 larly fringed flowers. The flowers 

 expand about eight o'clock in the 

 morning, and they close at two, 

 never remaining unclosed longer 

 than six hours. They are grown in 

 a gi-eenhouse or stove, in sandy loam 

 or peat ; and, like all the Australian 

 plants, care should be taken not to 

 let them suffer from any excess, 

 either of drought or moisture. They 

 are propagated either by division of 

 the root or by seed. 



Tiger Flower. — See Tigri'dia. 

 Tigri'dia. — Iridece. — The Tiger 

 Flower. — The commonest species of 

 this splendid bulb was formerly 

 called Fen-aria Tigrtdia, but it is 

 now changed to Tigridia pavonia ; 

 there is a variety called T. p. lebna, 

 and a second species called T. con- 

 cliiiflbra. They are all extremely 

 handsome, producing abundance of 

 their magnificent flowers in the open 

 ground, which, however, are very 

 short-lived, seldom remaining ex- 

 panded more than a few hours. The 

 plants are natives of !Mexico, and 

 the bulbs may be suffered to remain 

 in the ground all the year, if they 



can be kept dry ; there being more 

 \ danger of their iDeing destroyed by 

 wet than frost. The best mode of 

 treating them is perhaps that re- 

 commended for the Ixia. — See 



I'XIA. 



TiLE-EooT. — See Gteissorhi'za. 



Tillan'dsia. — BroraeJiacecB. — 

 Yery curious stove-plants, most of 

 which are parasitical, and may be 

 treated like the stove Orcliidacece. 

 — (See Orchideous Epiphytes.) 

 The others may be potted in a mix- 

 ture of peat and loam, and propa- 

 gated by suckers. They have all 

 showy flowers, wliich they produce 

 abundantlv. 



