120 



Greenhouse and iStove Plants. 



COMBRETUM. 



C. Reine des Beiges. Carmine, light green, 

 and maroon. 



C. Troubadour. Bright green, creamj' 

 white, and crimson. 



Insects. — Few insects affect these plants, 

 their sap being of too crude a nature to be 

 palatable to the jparasites. Aphides some- 

 times make their appearance, for which 

 fumigate, and if red spider is at all trouble- 

 some syringe freely with clean water. 



COLUMNEA. 



These are remarkably free-growing and 

 equally free-flowering stove Gesnerads that 

 continue in bloom for a long time. Plants 

 of a scandent habit when grown with 

 nothing to cling to or to support them 

 naturally droop, and become suitable for 

 hanging baskets. Many that possess this 

 form, however, grow too long and straggling 

 to be of use for cultivating in this way ; 

 hence it is that we have not too many 

 that can be made to adaj)t themselves to 

 this purpose. On this account one of the 

 Columneas, C. scandens, is valuable for 

 suspending in the stove or intermediate 

 house, where its bright tube-shaped flowers 

 show themselves ofl' to the best advantage. 

 They bloom for a considerable time during 

 the summer and autumn. 



Cuttings made of the points of the shoots 

 taken oif in April, put singly in small pots 

 in sand, placed in a projjagating frame in 

 ordinary stove heat and kept moist, will 

 strike in a short time, as they emit roots 

 not alone from the joints, but all up the 

 stem. After they are rooted treat them 

 like the general occupants of the stove as 

 to warmth, water, air, and shade ; the last 

 they do not require so much of as more 

 delicate plants ; and they should receive 

 only what is found necessary to keep them 

 from getting scorched. Pinch out the 

 ])oints of the shoots as soon as they have 

 begun to grow, after which move them 

 into 0-inch or 7-inch pots, which will be 

 large enough for the first summer ; in July 

 again pinch out the points of all the shoots 

 and repeat the operation later on in the 

 summer if the growth made is such as to 

 require it, the oljject being to keep them 

 as bushy as may be. Reduce the heat in 

 autumn ; a temperature of about 60° ^vill 

 suffice through the winter. In spring, 

 about the end of March, those that are 

 intended for gro^ving in baskets should 

 have those prepared for them ; they may 

 consist of the ordinary rustic pattern, made 

 nf wood, or of iron wire. They can be 

 lined with moss, and then have the plants 

 turned out into them in the usual way, or 

 they may be moved to larger pots and 



plunged in moss within the baskets ; in 

 either case the baskets should be of a good 

 size, as the plants are free growers. If to 

 be grown in the ordinary way they will 

 require 12-inch pots ; use good turfy loam 

 with a little sand and leaf-mould, and 

 again stop the shoots. They will need 

 more warmth as the solar heat increases, 

 with a plentiful supply of water when free 

 growth sets in. The shoots should tlien be 

 supported with sticks and ties ; if in 

 baskets, as a matter of course they will re- 

 quire to be allowed to hang down. It 

 would not be advisable to again stop them, 

 as this would interfere with their blooming. 

 Treat generally as during the preceding 

 summer. 



Tlie flowers are produced at the axils of 

 the leaves, and have a very distinct and 

 handsome appearance ; individually they 

 are not unlike single blooms of some of the 

 larger Gesneras. When they have done 

 blooming, the branches should be cut close 

 in, after which keep them moderately 

 warm, so as to encourage them to break 

 into growth ; wnnter as before. When 

 they are inclined to start in spring, turn 

 them out of their pots, remove a consider- 

 able portion of the old soil and replace it 

 with new. The pots they have occupied 

 last summer will be big enough, unless very 

 large plants are wanted, in which case they 

 must have more room. As soon as the 

 soil has got well filled with roots give 

 manure-water ; this will support them 

 without the necessity for large pots. After 

 the second year's flowering they may be 

 discarded, and young stock struck to take 

 their place. 



The family is limited to a few species, 

 the two best of which are : — 



C. erythrophcea, which has long-tubed 

 red flowers, and is a native of ]\Iexico, and 



C. scandens, which bears bright scarlet 

 flowers, and comes from the West Indies. 



Insects. — The hairy stems of these 

 plants afford shelter for mealy bug, which 

 will live upon them, but the texture of the 

 stems and leaves is such as to admit of their 

 being freely syringed with tepid water if 

 they happen to get affected, laying them 

 down on their sides at the time. 



COMBRETUM PURPUREUM. 



This belongs to a somewhat numerous 

 family, mostly evergreen twiners from hot 

 regions, but it is the only one that has 

 found favour with plant growers. It does 

 not get so large as many stove climbers, 

 and on that account is more suitable for 

 places where the space that can be afforded 

 to it is limited. Its flowers, which are 



