DESFONTAINEA. 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



143 



and moderately close, but not confined 

 under a propagating glass or frame, which 

 would most likely cause their destruction. 

 Shade and give no more water than will 

 just keep the soil slightly moist. The 

 suckers will form roots and get established 

 through the summer ; Avinter in a tem- 

 perature of 45°, and in spring, if the soil is 

 filled with roots, move them into pots 2 

 inches larger, using good loam with a 

 moderate quantity of sand added. The 

 plants, as already said, are very slow 

 growers, and from this time onwards will 

 require nothing more than the iisual 

 routine of greenhouse treatment, with 

 water given freely to the soil through the 

 growing season, but more sparsely in 

 winter, during which time they may be 

 kept at about 40° in the night. If suffi- 

 cient root-growth is made to admit of their 

 being put into pots a size or two larger each 

 spring, they must have this attention ; if 

 the progress is slower than this only pot 

 each alternate spring, regulating the size 

 of pots by the progress made. As they 

 get large the shifts should be larger and 

 not so frequent ; large specimens, say when 

 they get into 18 or 20 inch pots, will do a 

 number of years without moving if gdven 

 manure-water during the growing season. 

 There are several forms, differing princi- 

 pally in the length of the leaves, and their 

 dense or sparse production. 



The following are distinct and desirable 

 kinds : — 



D. acrotrichum. A kind with long arched 

 green leaves. A native of Mexico. 



D glaucum. The leaves of this sort have 

 a bluish metallic hue. From Mexico. 



D. gracile. Is distinct in appearance 

 from both the above. Mexico. 



D. latifolium. A handsome form with 

 stout foliage. A native of Mexico. 



Insects. — The hard texture of the leaves 

 of Dasylirions is such that few insects 

 molest them, except scale, which, if trouble- 

 some, can be removed by sponging. 



DAVALLIA. 



This genus is amongst the finest of 

 creeping stemmed Ferns ; it comprises 

 both stove and greenhouse kinds, and con- 

 tains a large number of species, from the 

 elegant little D. Tyermanii to the noble D. 

 Mooreana, and D. polyantha. The magni- 

 ficent fronds of both of these species extend 

 under liberal cultivation to a length of 6 

 or 7 feet. The stout, heaWly-clothed, 

 creeping stems of many of the Davallias is 

 not their least attractive property ; in D. 

 canariensis this appearance is so marked as 

 to give it the name Hare's-Foot Fern. 



For propagation and cultivation, see 

 Ferns, general details of culture. 



STOVE SPECIES. 



D. aculeata. West Indies. 

 D.fijiensis major. Fiji Islands. 

 D. Mariesii. Japan. 

 L). Mooreana. Borneo. 

 D. polyantha. Java. 

 D. Tyermanii. Africa. 



GREENHOUSE SPECIES. 



D. bullata. Nepal. 

 D. canariensis. Canaries. 

 D. canariensis pulchella. 

 D. dissecta. Java. 

 D. elegans. Malay Archipelago. 

 D. ]ieterophylla. 



D. pyxidata. New South "Wales. 

 D. tenuifolia. East Indies, Japan, and 

 China. 



DAVIESIA. 



Evergreen greenhouse plants that used 

 to be much more frequently met with 

 when hard wooded subjects were more in 

 favour than of late. They are distinct in 

 the appeaiance of their flowers, but not 

 equal to many things requiring to be grown 

 under similar conditions. They succeed 

 with treatment such as recommended for 

 Chorozemas, which see. 



The following will be found to suffi- 

 ciently represent the genus : — 



D. cordata. A very distinct looking 

 species, bearing in summer numerous 

 corymbs of yellow flowers. It comes from 

 New Holland. 



D. latifolia. This species also has yellow 

 flowers, borne in racemes ; a summer 

 bloomer. From New South Wales. 



DESFONTAINEA SPINOSA. 



The handsome appearance that this 

 plant has even when not in bloom, densely 

 clothed as it is with bright green, Holly- 

 like foliage, renders it at all times inte- 

 resting, and when studded with its brilliant 

 crimson and yellow flowers it is one of the 

 most distinct and attractive subjects in 

 cultivation. When, in addition to its 

 other good properties, the jalant is found 

 easy to manage, it seems strange that we 

 do not much oftener meet with it ; but 

 this may be explained by the fact that to 

 flower it well the usual treatment given to 

 the generality of greenhouse plants will 

 not answer. The wood when gro-wn under 

 ordinary conditions appears never to attain 

 a sufficiently hard, ripe state to induce 

 the free formation of flowers. It is one of 



