42 



Greenhoutie and Stove Plaidt>. 



AMTHURIUM. 



the i^lants are small, sift the soil, but pull 

 it to ])ieces with the hand ; press mode- 

 rately fii'm, and pot the crowns an inch or 

 so down, just covering the roots a little ; 

 put a small stick to each for support, give 

 water, and place them in a brisk heat of 

 05° in the night, with an increase during 

 the day. Keep them a little close until 

 they begin to grow, but not so much con- 

 fined as would be requisite in the case of 

 ordinary cuttings. Raise the temperature 

 both day and night as the season advances, 

 giving air in the daytime when the 

 weather is such as to require it, and shad- 

 ing slightly when the sun is upon them. 

 When a fair amount of roots have been 

 I'ormed, the plants should be moved into 

 pots two inches larger, using similar soil 

 to that in which they were before placed. 

 Continue to treat through the summer as 

 already advised, syringing them freely 

 every afternoon, and also giving plenty of 

 water to the roots. Reduce the tempera- 

 lure, and discontinue shading as the 

 weather gets cooler, keeping them through 

 the winter in a temperature of 55° in the 

 night ; but do not let the soil get dry. 

 Repot in April, giving two or three inches 

 of a shift, still half-filling the pots with 

 ilraiiiage, and using the soil in a more 

 lumpy state as the plants get larger ; this 

 season they will push up flowers from all 

 the strongest leaves, but it will not be 

 advisable, even whilst in bloom, to move 

 tliem out of the stove, as a lower and drier 

 atmosi^here would interfere with their 

 growth. Continue the summer and winter 

 treatment in this and subsequent years as 

 already recommended, giving more pot 

 room when it is wanted. They will go on 

 for years increasing in size as long as re- 

 ([uired, and, when they get larger than 

 desirable, they may be reduced by division 

 (jf the crowns. These Anthuriums can be 

 increased from pieces of their rhizome-like 

 stems cut in bits an inch or two in length, 

 inserted in soil such as that advised for 

 potting the crowns in, and treated simi- 

 larly afterwards. They can also be grown 

 fiom seeds managed as hereafter detailed 

 for the propagation of A. Scherzerianum 

 and its white variety by this method. 



A. Scherzerianum is now well known, 

 and is undoubtedly one of the very finest 

 and most distinct flowering plants ever in- 

 troduced to this country. By judicious 

 treatment in recent j-ears it has been 

 grown to a size, of both leaf and flower, 

 such as was never anticipated from the 

 small examples produced when first bloomed 

 after its introduction. It is frcjm Costa 

 Rica, and can be readily increased from 

 seeds. For a considerabln thna after it 



was brought to the country few persons 

 succeeded in seeding it, simply because 

 they did not allow time for the seeds to 

 get matured ; they are borne on the out- 

 side of the spadix, in compressed globular, 

 pulpy masses, about the size, and when 

 ripe of the colour, of pale red currants. 

 To produce good seed, flowers should be 

 selected that open towards the close of 

 sunmier ; about August, when the spathes 

 decay, they may be cut off, leaving the 

 twisted spadix growing upon the peduncles. 

 These will remain through the winter in 

 much the same condition as they appear in 

 the autunni, quite brown, with little ap- 

 parent vitality in them, but in the spring 

 the spadix will entirely, or partially,. un- 

 twist, and the seed vessels will begin to 

 swell, Ijeing at first of a green colour, after- 

 wards becoming orange-red as they ripen. 

 When fit to gather they are almost trans- 

 parent, and will part readily from the 

 sjaadix. They should then be removed, 

 washed out of the pulp in the way usual 

 with melon or cucumber seeds, and at once 

 sown. Procure lai'ge-sized seed pans, in 

 which jalace an inch of drainage ; then get 

 some clean sphagnum moss, free from grass 

 or weeds. Chop this quite fine with a pair 

 of scissors or hedge shears, and add to it 

 one-fifth of clean sand and some crocks or 

 charcoal, broken about the size of small 

 jieas. Fill up the pans with this mixture, 

 pressing it firndy down, and water the 

 surface, sprinkling a little more sand if 

 that which has been already mixed with 

 the moss is washed down ; damp the sur- 

 face again, and sow the seeds thickly and 

 evenly over it, pressing them gently down 

 with the hand, but not covering them in 

 the least. Put a propagating glass over 

 the whole to keep in the moisture, as this 

 will prevent the necessity for giving much 

 watei' ; if this is given in considerable 

 quantities, it has a tendency to wash the 

 seeds oveihead into the material, which 

 must not occur, as they vegetate much the 

 best when on the suiface. Keep the whole 

 quite moist ; it must never be allowed to 

 become dry, but, when water is given, let 

 it be applied with a fine rose, so as not to 

 disturb the seeds at all. Place in a night 

 temperature of 65°, and 10° moi'e in the 

 day ; in a few weeks they will begin to 

 grow. 



Let the young plants, from the time they 

 first vegetate, have plenty of light, but do 

 not allow the sun, when at all powerful, to 

 come upon them without shading : give air 

 in the middle of the day, and syringe over- 

 head in the afternoons. 



By the beginning of September they 

 will be large enough to prick out, several 



