^SCHYXANTHUS. 



Greenhouse and ^tove Plunis. 



•21 



blanching sprays of coial, and last and 

 retain their colour for months after the 

 flowers are gone. It is one of the best 

 ccnnparatively small growing decorative 

 plants in cultivation. When grown in 

 6 in. or 8 in. pots it is especially useful for 

 standing during the sunnner months in a 

 conservatory, where its intense colour con- 

 trasts well with other things. From 

 Cayenne. 



^■E. fithjens discolor is a variety of the 

 above, requiring similar ti-eatment. 



j^. Furstenhenjii. A Bahia species of 

 decidedly distinct character, with stout, 

 long, spiny-edged leaves. The panicles of 

 flowers are lai'ge, with rose-coloured bracts 

 and bracteoles. 



jE. Injstrix. A large-growing handsome- 

 leaved species. The flower-stalk is longer 

 than in most of the iEchmeas, and the 

 violet flowers are densely packed on the 

 spike. It comes from Cayenne. 



yE. Marice Ilegince. A truly regal plant 

 from Costa Eica ; it is of stately growth, 

 the leaves are 18 inches in length and 

 gracefully curved. The flower-spike, 

 which is from twenty inches to two feet 

 in length, springs from the centre ; it is erect 

 and partly clothed with ample deep rose- 

 coloured bracts, which retain their colour 

 foi' many months. The flowers are tipped 

 with blue, and as they get older change to 

 a salmon colour. It blooms in July. 



^. miniata. A smaller habited kind 

 than ^E. Fulgens, witli darker foliage ; the 

 individual flowers, as well as the whole 

 inflorescence, are smaller than those of 

 JE. fulgens. 



yE. Veitchii. A handsome species, 

 which bears a dense head of flowers, 

 scarlet in coli>ur, as are also the bracts. 

 From Colombia. 



Insects. — .Echmeas are not very sub- 

 ject to the attacks of insects. Mealy bug 

 and scale will live upon them, but the 

 texture of the leaves is such as to admit 

 of these being easily reuioved by sponging 

 and a free use of the syringe. 



uESCHYNANTHUS. 



These are beautiful free-fl(;wering stove 

 plants, possessing a very distinct habit of 

 growth : they are mostly indigenous to the 

 hot, damp, woody districts of Java, and 

 consequently will bear and require a high 

 temperature to grow well. Their splendid 

 scarlet and yellow or deep crimson flowers 

 are produced freely from the axils of the 

 leaves and extremities of the current 

 season's shoots. In their native hal)itat 

 they are of an epiphytal cliaracter, growing 

 on the trunks and branches of trees, to 



which the roots cling like our native Ivj. 

 In a cultivated state they are of moderate 

 growth, and are especially adapted for 

 growing in pots or baskets, suspended in 

 the stove over paths fiom the lafters ; so 

 managed they are very efl'ective, and 

 supply a place for which comparatively 

 few things are suitable. Their blooms are 

 borne in succession over a considerable 

 period during the summer and autumn 

 months, at which time they form an 

 agreeable contrast to other plants. They 

 flower freely in a small state, conse- 

 quently are suitable for either large or 

 small houses. 



To grow well they require too much 

 heat to succeed satisfactorily all the year 

 round in an ordinary Fern-house, but 

 should be kept in the stove whilst making 

 their growtli and until the flowers begin to 

 open ; they can then be removed to a 

 conservatory or Fernery, and in the latter 

 situation they have a beautiful effect, with 

 their bright-coloured flowers drooping over 

 the varied green fionds of the Ferns. All 

 the kinds root freeh' from half-ripened 

 cuttings taken off" in tlie spring, inserted in 

 small pots in half sand and peat, and kept 

 close in a propagating frame or under a 

 bell glass ; they will do without bottom 

 heat, provided the temperature of the 

 liouse is sufficient to promote growth. 

 Cuttings may usually be had in right 

 condition about the beginning of AjDril ; 

 these, if placed in a night temperature of 

 70'', vdW root in a month, when they may 

 be gradually inured to the full air of tie 

 house, the glasses tilted a little more each 

 day imtil they can be dispensed with 

 altogether. Pinch out the points of the 

 slioots at a few joints above tlie base, to lay 

 tlie foundation for the future plant by 

 inducing the formation of several shoots. 

 As soon as the pots are filled with roots, 

 remove into others a couple of inches 

 larger, using fibrous peat, to Avhicli add 

 one-sixth of sand and crocks broken small, 

 in equal parts ; this will be found to suit 

 the loots better than a closer material. 

 Fill the pots to one-fourth their depth with 

 drainage, as these plants cannot endure 

 stagnant moisture ; at the same time, during 

 the growing season they require an abun- 

 dant supply of water to the roots, and this 

 necessitates provision being made for its 

 passing freely oft'. Tliey sliould be stood 

 on a front shelf, where they will receive. a 

 fair amount of light, but should have a 

 thin shade in the hottest part of the day. 

 As the season advances keep the tempera- 

 ture at from 65^ to 70° in the night, 

 allowing it to get 10^ higher when the sun 

 is upon the glass, giving air when required, 



