198 



Greenlwuse and Stove Plants. 



H^MANTUUS. 



Insects. — Aphides must be kept under 

 by fumigation ; tbrips and red spider mil 

 sometimes make their appearance, but can 

 be destroyed by a free use of the syringe ; 

 when attacked by scale the shoots should 

 be well cut in during the season of rest, 

 and the stem and branches be thoroughly 

 washed with insecticide strong enough to 

 kiU the insect 



H-ffiMADICTYON NUTANS. 



"When handsome-leaved jilants first be- 

 came fashi(jnable, those usually met with 

 possessed beautifid and well-defined mark- 

 ings, and were of comparatively small 

 growth, such as some of the An^ctochili, 

 with the elegant veinings of the leaves of 

 which this Hsemadictyon may be compared, 

 for in some stages of its leaf development 

 the nerves, both principal and lateral, 

 come nearly up to those of Aneectochilus 

 setaceus. But in later years, since so many 

 plants of larger proportions have been in- 

 troduced, many of the most beautiful — and 

 thisHsemadictyonamongstthem — arerarely 

 seen. Hsemadictyon or Echites nutans is 

 an evergreen twiner from the West Indies, 

 and therefore requires a brisk stove heat 

 to grow it, so as to bring out its delicate 

 leaf markings to the full. Its young, soft, 

 quick-growing shoots are not so easily 

 rooted as those of some plants, but, as 

 is generally found with things that do not 

 propagate freely from shoot cuttings, it 

 can be readily increased by means of root 

 cuttings. 



If a portion of the strongest are removed 

 from a healthy plant, cut into bits about 

 three-fourths of an inch long and inserted 

 in pots filled with sand, so as just to leave 

 the tops of the pieces above the sand, placed 

 in a house or pit where a night tempera- 

 ture of about 65° is kept up, they mil soon 

 form buds and shoots. About the begin- 

 ning of ]\Iarch is as good a time as any for 

 putting them in, as then the plant from 

 which the cuttings are taken will not have 

 made much growth, and consequently will 

 not receive much check or injury from the 

 removal of a portion of the roots, "\^^len 

 the shoots are 3 inches or 4 inches long, 

 the young plants can be moved siiigly into 

 small-sized pots at first, as this Hsema- 

 dictyon, like all its congeners, cannot bear 

 over-potting ; good peat, seven parts to one 

 of sand, will answer for it. After this 

 keep them close for a few days until the 

 roots have begun to move, gi^nug more 

 heat as the weather gets warmer ; they 

 will bear as much as the hottest stove 

 plants, mth plenty of moisture in the 

 atmosphere and shaded always from the 



sun when it is at all powerful, for if its 

 rays when very bright come directly upon 

 them, it will impair the beautiful veining 

 in the leaves. It requires the ordinary 

 amount of air needed by stove plants that 

 succeed best with a humid atmosphere, but 

 care must be taken never to overwater, as 

 if the soil gets too wet it will rot the roots. 

 The plant looks best when grown with 

 four or five shoots, each allowed to twine 

 up a thin stick. When the young stock 

 require more room, the best way to 

 manage them will be to put four or six in a 

 7-inch or 8-inch pot half filled with drain- 

 age, the rest sandy peat ; so treated, they 

 are much more effective than when grown 

 singly. Through the remainder of the 

 summer continue to treat them as so far 

 advised. Winter in a reduced temperature, 

 keeping them drier at the roots than most 

 plants, and about the beginning of March 

 head them do^sTi to within 8 inches or 9 

 inches of the pots, gi'V'ing more warmth to 

 induce them to break quickly. As soon as 

 they have made new shoots 8 inches or 10 

 inches long turn them out of the pots, re- 

 move as much of the old potting material 

 as can be done without injuring the roots, 

 and place them in pots 2 inches or 3 inches 

 larger, -with fresh open soil. All they will 

 now require is routine treatment such as 

 ad^^sed for the summer before, giving 

 longer sticks, as the plants, being stronger, 

 will make much longer shoots. With a plant 

 of this description the object will not be to 

 grow large specimens, but rather to confine 

 them to something like the size indicated, 

 in which way they will better answer the 

 purpose they are best adapted for, which is 

 to afford contrast and variety among the 

 many stronger and coarser-growing fine- 

 leaved plants generally met mth in stoves. 

 They will last for years and can be kept 

 within the size required by being headed 

 dowTi in the spring annually. 



Insects. — This Hsemadictyon is subject 

 to most of the insects that will live upon the 

 nearly allied Dipladenias ; they must be 

 kept under by daily syringing with tepid 

 water during the growing season, and 

 sponging when required. 



H^MANTHUS. 



These are bulbous plants, most of which 

 are indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope, 

 though a few are found in warmer parts of 

 Africa. The flowers of most of the culti- 

 vated species have a singular appearance, 

 being composed of a large quantity ot 

 filaments forming large globular heads 

 supported on comparatively short stout 

 fleshy stems, which rise from the bulbs in 



