DESMODIUM GYRANS 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants 



145 



wards the end of I\Iay ; again place them 

 in the full sun, but screen the pots from 

 its influence ; give regular attention in 

 watering and syringing overhead in the 

 evenings during bright weather, and occa- 

 sionally turn the plants round so that all 

 sides alike may come under the sun's 

 power. 



Continue this treatment until the be- 

 ginning of August, when discontinue the 

 use of the syringe ; let them remain out 

 until the end of September, when tliey 

 must be brought in and wintered as before. 

 It must now be determined whether they 

 are to be used for indoor decoration, with 

 what liloom they will make, or be grown 

 on another season ; the latter course will 

 generally be most advisable, and if decided 

 upon they should be again potted in spring, 

 turned out as in the last season, and any 

 shoots that need it stopped. If they are 

 removed to the conservatory during the 

 time of flowering their next year's bloom 

 will be interfered with, as the plant can 

 seldom be induced to produce a full sheet 



they can be easily removed by a free use of 

 the syringe ; if brown scale gets upon them 

 sponging may be resorted to with eft'ect. 



DESMODIUM GYRANS. 



(The moving iilant.) 



A warm stove species, belonging to a 

 family of plants most of which possess 

 little beauty. Nor can it be said that this 

 has anything eft'ective in its flowers ; the 

 interest attached to it lies in its leaves, 

 which are constantly moving with the 

 regularity of the pendulum of a clock, only 

 much slower and in a different direction, 

 the motion being alternately upwards and 

 downwards. This continuoiis motion has 

 given rise to a good deal of speculation as 

 lo the cause among those interested in 

 vegetable physiology ; its motion is not 

 nearly so quick as that of the sensitive 

 plants — Mimosa sensitiva, M. pudica, and 

 others of that genus. Tiue it is that this 

 and other plants possessing singularity of 



of flowers on two seasons consecutively, j habit rarely have flowers with fine colours. 



Again in the autiimn remove them inside ; 

 the shoots will now require a few sticks to 

 keep them in shape, although com- 

 paratively little support is needed. It 

 will be better not to pot in the spring, as 

 it may in some measure interfere with 

 their ilowering, l>ut turn them out about 

 the same time ; they may be expected to 

 bloom freely during the summer, at vv'hich 

 time the plants can be used in the con- 

 servatory or greenhouse, but there should 

 not l)e shaded more than required. If 

 they appear to want more pot-room, they 

 should have a shift after the flowering is 

 over, lalacing them out-of-doors as soon as 



but it is well that they should not be 

 lost sight of by cultivators ; of this there is 

 some danger through the disposition that 

 too often exists to give exclusive attention 

 to things that are only noticeable for their 

 highly-coloured flowers. 



The cultivation of this Desmodium is 

 extremely simple, as all it requires is a 

 brisk heat and ordinary attention in the 

 matters of soil, water, and air, and a little 

 shade in briglit weather. It strikes freely 

 from cuttings of the hall'-ripeued Avood 

 taken oft' at any time of the year when 

 obtainable. If its propagation is under- 

 taken in the spring, cuttings consisting of 

 they have got hold of tlie new soil if the j points of the shoots a few inches in length 

 season is not too far advanced — if it is, j cut to a joint, put singly in 3-inch pots, in 

 they had better be kept under glass and I sandy soil, the surface all sand, placed in 

 treated through the winter as before ad- a temperature of 70°, covered with a 

 vised. Again" in the spring expose tliem j projiagating glass, and kept moist and Avell 

 in the open air ; they Avill most likely not shaded, will soon make roots. Then 



r,l 

 V h 



produce a full crop of flowers this season 

 if kept long indoors during the previous 

 summer — the object should be to prepare 

 them for making a full display the ensuing 

 year. It can easily ,be arranged to bloom 

 a certain number each summer. By pre- 

 paring them in the way described the 



dispense with the glass, and stand the 

 plants in a fairly light place ; as soon as 

 the small pots are filled with roots give 

 them a couple of sizes more room, using 



I ordinary loam, to which add a little sand 

 and rotten manure. Pincli out the leading 



! shoots to cause them to bieak side branches. 



plants will last for many years, if given and give them ordinary stove treatment as 



to heat, light, water, and air, shading 



increased root-room as they require it, and 

 they can be kept in a vigorous, healthy 

 condition with less pot-room if they are 

 assisted through the growing season with 

 manure-water. 



Insects. — The hard texture of the leaves 



slightly when the weather is sunny. The 

 plants soon begin to show the natural 

 peculiarity of their leaves, and keep on 

 moving regularly, the base of the stalk 

 acting just like a hinge. All that is further 



renders them little subject to the attacks , required is an increase of pot-room when 

 of the smaller insects ; should they appear \ the soil gets full of roots. The plant 



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