Greenhouse and Stooe Plants. 



ARAUCAKIA. 



well ; the matured part of the stem may 

 be cut into bits and put in as eyes, like the 

 cuttings, in a brisk heat. Keep them close 

 and sufficiently moist until enough roots 

 are formed ; then remove the propagating 

 glasses and pot off singly. Peat is most 

 suitable for the weaker-growing kinds, 

 luam being best for the strong ones. Tliey 

 will thrive in the warmth usually kept up 

 for hot stove plants, say 65° in the night in 

 spring, with a rise of 10° or 15° by day, 

 and proportionately more as the season 

 advances. Air must be given regularly ' 

 through the growing season, with shade 

 when the sun is powerful. These plants 

 will bear the soil in. a moderately moist 

 state, and they should be syringed daily in 

 the summer. Nothing more is necessary 

 than to increase the pot-room, as the roots 

 require it. Old stools of most of the 

 species, when headed down, will push 

 several shoots ; these, if taken off with a 

 heel when about G inches long, will root 

 readily, and make plants in little time. 



The undermentioned are the most desir- 

 able stove kinds : — 



A. Chabrierii. A new species of small 

 and elegant habit. One of the best of the 

 small kinds. 



A. elegantissima. This is from New 

 Caledonia, and has an erect, slender stem ; 

 the leaves are digitate and on long stalks. 

 A handsome plant. 



A. filicifolia. A South Sea Island 

 plant, having a purple stem, spotted with 

 white ; the leaves are elegant, fern-like, 

 and deeply divided. 



A. gracillima. Forms slender, graceful, 

 erect stems, thickly clothed with deep 

 green leaves, fern-like in their appearance, 

 midrib white. A native of the South Sea 

 Islands. 



A. Guilfoylei. Another South Sea Island 

 species, with an erect stem and shrubby 

 habit ; the leatlets are two or three inches 

 in length, and margined evenly with white. 



A. ^Kerchoveana. A pretty kind, with 

 larger leaves than A. elegantissima. 



A. leptophylla. Stem erect and slender, 

 leaves large, and borne on stout stalks. 



A. monstrosa. A new and very distinct 

 kind, with pendant leaves, the leaflets 

 margined with white. From the South 

 Sea Islands. 



A . Osyana. From the South Sea Islands. 

 Another erect grower, bearing digitate 

 leaves, the leaflets bilobed. 



A. ternata. An elegant-habited sort ; 

 the leaves are serrated and opposite, pale 

 green in colour. New Britain. 



A. Veitchii. A plant with a tall, slender 

 stem, and dark green digitate leaflets, 

 narrow and undulated in the edges, so as 



to proauce a distinct and handsome appear- 

 ance. It comes from New Caledonia. 



Insects. — Thrips will sometimes attack 

 the young leaves, but these and red spider are 

 easily kept down by the use of the syringe. 

 Brown scale is their worst enemy, and 

 where it exists should be got rid of by fre- 

 quent sponging, as the leaves will not bear 

 dressing with anything strong enough to 

 kill the scale. 



ARALIA. 



(Greenhouse.) 



Amongst the different species of Aralia 

 that will thrive with greenhouse treatment 

 are several very handsome kinds, all ever- 

 green, remarkable for their distinct foliage ; 

 they are very effective for greenhouse 

 decoration associated with flowering plants, 

 or for arranging in rooms, corridors, &c. 

 They are easily-grosvn plants requiring no 

 especial attention to keep them in good 

 condition beyond the supplying of their 

 wants with sufficient root-room and water, 

 and the necessary attention to keep them 

 free from insects, so that their leaves may 

 not get disfigured. Their prcipagation and 

 cultivation are the came as in the stove 

 kinds, except that after the first stages they 

 do not require to be kept so warm, an 

 ordinary greenhouse temperature sufficing. 



The undermentioned are handsome 

 kinds : — 



A. crassifolia. A New Zealand species, 

 with handsome green leaves. 



A. crassifolia intcgrifolia. A distinct 

 form of the above. 



A. crassifolia spathulata. Another form 

 of A. Crassifolia. 



A. heteromorpha. A desirable plant of 

 medium growth. 



A. papyrifera. A native of China, and 

 a desirable plant with well-marked foliage. 



A. Quinquefolia. A distinct and hand- 

 some species of moderate growth, with 

 glossy leaves. 



A. Sieboldii and its variegated form are 

 from Japan. Both are very handsome plants, 

 that, in addition to their merit for green- 

 house use, are amongst the best subjects for 

 room decoration existent. Their palmate 

 glossy leaves are very handsome and bear 

 dust and an indifferent atmosphere better 

 than most things. They also do well out- 

 of-doors in the south-west of the kingdom 

 in summer, but suffer more or less in the 

 open air in a severe winter. 



ARAUCARIA. 



These are evergreen trees of most elegant 

 habit, that in their native countries attain 



