Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



19 



peated washings of the wood and leaves 

 with insecticide during the season of rest. 



ACALYPHA. 



These are stove plants with distinct 

 looking foliage, and are suitable for using 

 in the ways that fine-leaved subjects are 

 now so much in demand for. 



They can be struck from cuttings of the 

 young shoots or from eyes, which, if put 

 in during spring in sand and stood in 

 a temperature of 70°, kept close, moist and 

 shaded, -will soon root ; then move them 

 singly into 3-inch pots. They wiU grow 

 in either peat or loam with a little sand ; 

 keep them in a temperature similar to that 

 in ^vhi^h they were struck until established, 

 after which 65° by night will be enough. 

 Let the heat rise in the day according to 

 the state of the weather, giving air and 

 shade when sunny, and keep them near 

 the glass. Nip the points off the leading 

 shoots, and give pots two or three sizes 

 larger about the end of June, continuing 

 to treat as before. They will make useful 

 decorative stock by autmnn, and are most 

 serviceable when of moderate size struck 

 annually. 



A. marginata. A free-growing hand- 

 some kind ; centre of leaf reddish brown, 

 edged with carmine. South Sea Islands. 



A. ohovata. A distinct and handsome 

 kind ; in the early stages the leaves are green, 

 edged with creamy white, and as they get 

 older the marginal colouring assumes a 

 crimson hue. South Sea Islands. 



A. Wilkesiana (syn.; A. tricolor). A 

 handsome species ; leaves metallic green 

 ground colour, deeply marked with red- 

 dish crimson. New Caledonia. 



Insects. — Eed spider and mealy bug 

 sometimes affect them, and are bes't 

 kept under by a free use of the syringe and 

 sponging. 



ACANTHOPH^NIX. 



The few species of this genus of Palms 

 known in cultivation are pretty habited 

 plants that attain a medium size. They 

 require stove heat to keep them in good 

 condition. Propagation and cultivation 

 given under Palms, general details of 

 culture. 



A. crinita (syns. ; Areca crinita and 

 Calamus dealbatus). A species with 

 elegantly curved, plumose pinnate leaves, 

 pale green above, white on the under 

 side ; the stalks are armed with strong 

 spines. This Palm often has a yellow, 

 sickly appearance, and on that account is 



not equal to many in cultivation. It is 

 indigenous to Madagascar and the Isle ot 

 Bourbon. 



ACHIMENES. 



Many of the present race of these beauti- 

 ful free-flowering plants are garden hy- 

 brids, produced by crossing the different 

 species introduced from Jamaica and South 

 Anerica, the progeny of which are very 

 handsome. They have many properties 

 that commend them to the general culti- 

 vator, amongst which are the ease with 

 which they can be grown, their long-con- 

 tinued blooming, and also their ability to 

 bear when in flower a considerably lower 

 temperature than the stove ; their suita- 

 bility for conservatory decoration during 

 the summer season, when the greater num- 

 ber of plants have done flowering, makes 

 them valuable for using in this way. They 

 are deciduous herbaceous plants, forming 

 scaly roots that rest through the winter, 

 during which they should be kept in dry 

 material. This should be either sand or 

 soil, and they may be put away anywhere 

 in a dry place where the temperature does 

 not fall below 50° ; much lower than this 

 they are not safe for any length of time, as, 

 if kept too cold, they decay. Although 

 the flowering lasts for a considerable 

 period, still it is well to start them into 

 growth at different times, so as to have a 

 succession. If some are required early, 

 say in June, a portion should be started 

 about the end of February, with a second 

 lot at an interval of a month or five weeks. 

 When commencing prepare some ordinary 

 seed pans, proportionate in size with the 

 quantity of each variety to be grown, and 

 put in the bottom of these a few bits of 

 crocks, on which place the soil. They will 

 thrive in either peat or loam, mixed with 

 leaf motild and rotten dung, to which add 

 sand in . proportion to the more or less 

 heavy description of the soil used. As 

 these pans are merely to start them into 

 growth, after Avliich they are to be trans- 

 planted, the soil should be of a very light 

 character, so that they maybe moved from it 

 without injuring the young roots, a cir- 

 cumstance that will occur if material of 

 an adhesive nature is used. If peat of a 

 fibrous description is employed, add one- 

 fifth of leaf mould ; if loam, put an equal 

 quantity of leaf mould along with it ; fill 

 the pans two-thiids their depth with the 

 soil, and then place the roots an inch 

 asunder evenly upon it, and over them put 

 an inch of soil, which should be in a 

 medium condition between wet and dry. 

 Place the pans in the stove at the coolest 



