154 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



DRACOPHYLLUM. 



lower leaves, and put singly into pots large 

 enough to hold them, drained and filled 

 with a mixture of half loam and sand, with 

 a little sand alone on the top. The cuttings 

 are best put in in spiing, and should he 

 stood Avhere they can have a temperature 

 of 60°, where they will soon form roots, 

 after which treat in every way as to 

 root-room, water, air, and light, as advised 

 for the seedlings of I), australis. Cuttings 

 made of the old hard stems of any of these 

 Dracrenas, in lengths of about a couple of 

 inches, will strike and make good plants, 

 forming straight stems with handsome 

 heads, equal in every way to the shoot 

 cuttings. The thick' fleshy ends of the 

 roots, already mentioned, if taken off in 

 pieces of about an inch long, and treated 

 like the stem cuttings, will succeed equally 

 well. 



D. covr/esta. A slender elegant-growing 

 kind, one of the best for using where a 

 large grower would be inadmissible. 



D. lineata. Another pretty kind that 

 attains a medium size. 



I), rubra. A handsome plant with 

 moderately broad leaves ; pale green, the 

 extreme edges of a reddish shade. 



Insects. — These Dracaenas are liable to 

 the attacks of red spider, but by following 

 up the use of the syringe through the 

 growing season little trouble may be looked 

 for from this pest. If greenfly or thrips 

 make their appearance fumigate with 

 tobacco. For scale and mealy bug syringe 

 and sponge the leaves. 



DRACOPHYLLUM GRACILE. 



This is a native of New Holland, and is 

 one of the most distinct and useful plants in 

 cultivation, either for decorative purposes 

 in a small state, or grown on to a full-sized 

 specimen ; its colour, pure white, is not 

 common among hardwooded greenhouse 

 plants. It is most useful also fur cutting, 

 either for bouquets or filling vases, its thin 

 jiapery flowers lasting long in water. 

 There are few plants, excepting the 

 Aphelexis, that retain their flowers in good 

 condition so long, for they last well five or 

 six weeks from the time they begin to 

 open. No collection of hardwooded plants 

 can be considered complete without this, 

 particularly where they are intended for 

 exhibition, for which it is especially 

 adapted, both on account of its colour and 

 its thoroughly distinct habit of growth. 

 But to ensure the plants always being 

 forthcoming when required, several should 

 be grown, as it is a most delicate-rooted 

 subject, and apt, on that account, to go oft' 

 suddenly, without any apparent symptoms 



to indicate disease until the points of the 

 slioots begin to flag. This is an all but cer- 

 tain precursor of death, except in the case 

 of excessive dryness at the root, which never 

 ought to be allowed to occui', as, even if it 

 does not destroy the plant, it produces a 

 rusty condition of the leaves which detracts 

 much from its appearance, even if confined 

 to the base of the plant. The leaves, being 

 naturally very small, admit of the least 

 imperfection in this respect being seen. It 

 must not be understood that the only 

 essential to secure success in its cultivation 

 is a liberal r;se of the water -pot — it is one 

 of the most impatient plants in respect to 

 any excess of moisture at the root. It does 

 not last in good condition so long as some, 

 consequently it is advisable for those who 

 grow it to each year propagate a few, so as 

 to be in a position to make up for such as 

 die or wear out. 



While in a young state they should 

 never be placed upon dry shelves or open 

 trellis-work, but should be stood on some 

 material that will hold a little moisture, 

 such as sand or ashes, or a mixture of both. 

 This must not be made too wet, or the pots 

 will absorb so much water as to rot the 

 roots ; just simply keep the material a 

 little moist, so that the atmosphere sur- 

 rounding the plants may, as far as possible, 

 approach to that which they receive when 

 growing naturally in the open air, through 

 the attraction of the sun acting upon the 

 soil, which never, in the country where 

 the plant grows, gets into that unnaturally 

 diy condition that plants standing upon 

 dry shelves are subject to. 



This Dracophyllum strikes readily from 

 cuttings made of the points of the young 

 shoots, such as are to be had in quantity 

 about the end of May. Reduce them to a 

 length of 3 inches, put them an inch or 

 two apart in 6-inch pots in sand, keep at 

 an intermediate temijerature covered with 

 a propagating glass, moist and shaded, and 

 they will strike in about two months ; 

 when well-rooted move them singly into 

 small pots filled with fine sifted jjeat and 

 sand, and continue to keep close until they 

 begin to grow. Give just enough moisture 

 in the soil to promote growth, and a little 

 air in the middle of the day ; shade in 

 ])roportion to the state of the weather, and 

 pinch out the points of the shoots as soon 

 as the little plants conunence to grow away. 

 Keep through the autumn and winter at 

 an intermediate temperature which will 

 enable them to go on moving slowly ; by 

 the end of March move into 3-inch pots, 

 using soil similar to that in which they 

 were first placed, again shading as soon as 

 the weather nuxkes it necessary. Give 



