BILLBERGIA. 



(jrrtenlioiiae and Utove Plants 



71 



confine these Bignonias to a single stem 

 until they have attained a considerable 

 height; consequently they will not require 

 the leading shoot stopped, but should be 

 encouraged to extend in length. For this 

 purpose three or four long sticks should be 

 inserted in each pot, round which the 

 plants ought to be kept regularly trained, 

 but the shoots should not be allowed to 

 twine about them so as to make the work 

 of undoing them difficult. Through the 

 spring and summer encourage growth by 

 syringing oveihead every afternoon, and 

 keeping the atmosphere moistened in very 

 bright weather, during which a thin shade 

 will assist them. When the roots get well 

 hold of the soil give them plenty of Avater 

 and admit air freely, to keep the growth 

 strong ; towards the close of summer dis- 

 pense with shade and the use of the syringe, 

 so as to harden them up. Keep during 

 the autumn and winter in an ordinary 

 greenhouse temperature, with just enough 

 water at the roots to maintain the soil in 

 a medium state of moisture. 



Before growth commences in the spring 

 they should be turned out into the border 

 wherein they are to be grown. This ought 

 to be well drained with 5 or 6 inches of 

 broken crocks or pounded bricks, over 

 which some fibrous material from the soil 

 should be placed ; on this put 10 or 12 

 inches of good soil, consisting of a mixture 

 of peat, loam, and sand similar to that 

 already advised. In planting, a portion of 

 the roots, such as are at the outside of the 

 ball, should be loosened and spread out in 

 the border ; in this way they will soon 

 begin to grow and occupy i't. Syringe 

 them regularly overhead every day all 

 through the growing season ; on a free use 

 of the syringe in this way a good deal of 

 success depends, as insects are kept down. 

 All the after-treatment required will be to 

 keep the shoots trained to the wires that 

 are to support them, and, when the space 

 they are intended to fill is covered, to 

 regularly use the knife, so as to keep them 

 in due bounds. In time the soil becomes 

 exhausted ; to remedy this, a couple of 

 inches should be taken oft" the surface each 

 spring without injuring the roots, and its 

 place supplied by new soil, to further assist 

 which liberal applications of manure- water 

 may be given during the growing season. 



The following varieties are deserving of 

 cultivation : — 



B. capreolata. Flowers scarlet, blooms 

 in June and following months. It comes 

 from North America. 



B. grandiflora. Flowers from July to 

 September. This fine species is from 

 Caraccas. 



B. speciosa. A pink-flowered plant 

 from Uruguay ; blooms in the spriug. 



B. Tweediana. A yellow-bloomed kind 

 that flowers in the summer. It is from 

 Buenos Ayres. 



B. unguis. Orange-coloured flowers ; 

 blooms in the autumn. A native of South 

 America. 



Insects. — Bed spider will live upon 

 them, but must be kept under by a free 

 use of the syringe. Scale can be kept down 

 by frequent use of sponge and brush. 



BILLBERGIA. 



Amongst these South American stove 

 Bromcliaceous plants are some very fine 

 flowering subjects, which, in general habit, 

 partake somewhat of the character of the 

 Pine-apple. As in the Pine, their flower- 

 sjjikes are emitted from the centre of the 

 plant, but they dift'cr considerably in the 

 forms which they assume ; some are quite 

 erect, as in the Thyrse-like Billbergia (B. 

 thyrsoidea), in which the flowers open 

 almost on a level with the intense crimson 

 bracts from which they spring, forming a 

 dense head of splendidly-colouied inflor- 

 escence. In others, like the Morel Bill- 

 bergia (B. Moreliana), the flower-spikes 

 are loose and open in character, and droop 

 elegantly from the centre. Others again, 

 like B. polystachya (the many-spiked Bill- 

 bergia) have erect spikes, but somewhat 

 branched. All the sjjecies are easily grown, 

 being sufficiently similar in their require- 

 ments generally to succeed under the same 

 treatment. After they have flowered they 

 throw up suckers from the base. These 

 should not be taken oft" too soon, as, 

 although they will root when removed in 

 a small state, they nevertheless make much 

 quicker progress upon the plant which has 

 produced them until they get to a moderate 

 size, say one-fourth or one-fifthof thatof the 

 parent plant. They will throw out roots 

 at any time of the year, but it is generally 

 best to take them oft' early in the spring 

 say about the beginning of March, as in 

 that case they have plenty of time to get 

 established before autumn. They should 

 be slipped oft" from the stools that have 

 produced them just at the point from 

 which they spring ; those that are near 

 the soil will most likely have some roots 

 attached, in which case they may at once 

 be placed in pots just large enough to hold 

 them. Others that have not made any 

 roots should have a few of the bottom 

 leaves stripped off and be put in pots, one- 

 fourth filled with drainage. 



The soil in which they are grown should 

 be good turfy loam, sand being added to 



