128 



Greenhouse and tStove Plants. 



CROTON. 



pots than necesi?ary to grow and sustain I 

 them up to full size ; they want a good 

 holding soil. 



There are a large number of kinds 

 known to cultivators, but the following 

 will usually be found sufficient for ordi- 

 nary use. Most of them bear umbels of 

 IVom a dozen to thirty highly fragrant 

 flowers. 



Crin um amabile. This is a reddish purple 

 species from the East Indies. 



G. americanitm. A well-known kind, 

 with YiwvB white flowers, very fragiant ; 

 from South America. 



C. asiaticum. This is also a white- 

 flowered species ; it comes from China, 

 and is a very desirable plant. 



G. eriibesrens. A white-flowered sort 

 from the West Indies. 



C. fiuiantcum. A large strong-growing 

 kind that has very large umbels of white 

 flowers ; a native of Guinea. 



G. Lindleyamim. Bears white and purple 

 flowers ; a handsome kind introduced from 

 Maranham. 



C. ornatum Herbertinnum. A garden 

 hybrid, ground colour blush, striped with 

 bright red. 



G. scahrum. "White, striped with red ; a 

 native of California. 



Hymenocallis carihbcea. A handsome 

 white - flowered species that requires a 

 strong heat to grow it well ; a native of 

 the West Indies. 



H. macrostephana. A most beautiful 

 dwarf-growing sort with white flowers, 

 one of the finest of all the species. 



H. speciosa. Also a white-flowered kind 

 from the West Indies. 



Insects. — These plants are not much 

 subject to insects, although red spider will 

 live on the foliage. But this can easily be 

 kept down by syringing. • If scale, mealy 

 bug, or thrips attack them, sponging will 

 be the most effectual. 



CROSSANDRA INFUNDIBULI- 

 FORMIS. 



A new evergreen stove Acanthad, from 

 India, with orange flowers, tinged with 

 led, produced in terminable spikes. 



The mode of propagation and after 

 management is similar to that recom- 

 mended for Aplelandras, which see. 



CROTON. 



fSyn. : Codiceum.) 



Few amongst the different kinds of fine- 

 leaved stove subjects have been so exten- 

 sively cultivated as Crotons, and there is 



no family of plants known to cultivators 

 which gives so much variety in the way of 

 form and colour in the foliage. All the 

 variegated kinds (and these only are 

 iavouiites with plant growers) come from 

 hot countries, and require a high stove 

 temperature to grow them to anything like 

 the condition of which they admit. 



These plants are very easily propagated, 

 and quite as easily grown, provided suffi- 

 cient care is bestowed upon them. Cut- 

 tings will root quickly at any time of the 

 year, but spring is the best season for 

 putting them in. Small pieces of the 

 shoots should be selected, always choosing 

 those that have their leaves well variegated. 

 This is necessary, as if shoots that are too 

 green are struck they almost invariably are 

 afterwards deficient in variegation. They 

 should be put singly in pots just large 

 enough to hold them, half filled with sand 

 and loam, the upper portion all sand. 

 Kept warm, moist, with the air confined, 

 and shaded, they will root in a few weeks ; 

 then gradually dispense with the propaga- 

 ting glasses ; they form roots quickly, and 

 will soon require larger pots ; these should 

 be drained and filled with good loam, 

 liberally mixed with sand. If intended 

 for large specimens, as soon as growth has 

 commenced the points of the shoots should 

 be pinched out to lay the foundation for a 

 dense, bushy habit ; to further encourage 

 this they ought to be kept close to the roof 

 glass, and receive air every day through 

 the growing season when the weather is fit 

 to admit it. They do not require any shade 

 from the sun ; unless the glass actually 

 burns the leaves the more sun they get 

 the finer coloured they usually are. They 

 should be freely syringed daily, except in 

 the dead of winter, as they are liable 

 to red spider and a minute yellow thrip 

 that often attacks them, and which can 

 only be kept down by a constant applica- 

 tion of water to the leaves. As the 

 branches are produced they should be tied 

 out, otherwise, if this is not attended to 

 they get into too stift' an erect position to 

 admit of their afterwards bending. The 

 result of this is that they in course of time 

 become denuded of leaves about the bottom, 

 which makes them unsightly. These 

 plants should always present a close mass 

 of healthy leaves fully clothing the wood, 

 without which they, and similar things 

 grown for the beauty of their foliage, are 

 deficient in the first essential to make them 

 attractive. 



Crotons will grow in almost any descrip- 

 tion of soil, and, like most other plants, 

 make the most progress in peat, but they 

 rarely have their leaves so finely colouied 



