204 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



HEXACENTRIS. 



midrib to the margin, producing a striking 

 variegation. South Sea Islands. 



H. metallica. A distinct-looking plant 

 with ample foliage, the midrib and outer 

 edges of which are reddish -brown, offering 

 a perfect contrast to the rest of the surface ; 

 the under side is red. From the South 

 Sea Islands. 



E. vinosa. The leaves of this species are 

 18 inches long, green above, dull red 

 beneath. In general appearance it is like 

 a Canna with unusually large foliage. 

 New Grenada. 



HELIOTROPIUM. 



Greenhouse plants, well known and so 

 generally esteemed for the fragrance of 

 their flowers as to be universal favourites. 

 Their cultivation is extremely simple. 

 Cuttings of the young shoots in a soft 

 state, such as can be had almost any time 

 through the spring, root in a week or two 

 in a temperature of 60° or 65°, kept close, 

 moist, and shaded. If put in several to- 

 gether in pots tilled with sand towards the 

 end of March, they will be in a condition 

 to pot off singly by the middle of April ; 

 give them good turfy loam, Avith some leaf- 

 mould and sand added. Keep them in a 

 growing temperature such as afforded by 

 a pit with a little fire-heat until the plants 

 have got established, standing them near 

 the glass, with a little shade in bright 

 weather. Stop the points of the shoots, 

 and give more air as they begin to grow 

 away freely ; in five or six weeks move the 

 young plants into 6-inch pots, in soil 

 similar to that in which they were first 

 potted ; again pinch out the shoots. 

 Treat ujent such as given to the general 

 occupants of the greenhouse is all that is 

 necessary after this. Their free disposition 

 to flower is such that they will bloom in a 

 very small state, and their receiving more 

 root-room depends on the size they are 

 required to be grown to ; pots 7 or 8 

 inches in diameter will be enough to keep 

 them blooming through the autumn, 

 especially if they are assisted with manure- 

 water. If required to bloom in winter they 

 must have a little fire- heat so as to keep 

 the night temperature from 45° to 50°, 

 with a proportionate rise in the day as the 

 weather admits of it. Plants kept through 

 the winter in a cool greenhouse tempera- 

 ture will flower freely in spring with the 

 increased sun-heat. If the old plants are 

 kept on another season they will need 

 more root-room ; the size of the pots being 

 increased, they will go on for many years 

 until they reach the size of large bushes, 

 or standards if prepared by confining them 



to single stems, removing the side shoots 

 and then stopping them so as to form 

 bushy heads. Heliotropes also answer well 

 planted out, and grown bush fashion, or 

 trained to a pillar or rafter, or c(jvering a 

 wall. 



The following are good varieties : — 



H. Duchess of Edinburgh. Dark purple. 



H. Lady Molesworth. Purple. 



H. President Garfield. A fine, free- 

 blooming kind. 



H. Swanky Giant. A rose-coloured 

 variety, that bears large heads of flower. 



H. The Queen. Pale lilac ; very sweet 

 scented. 



Insects. — Aphides often are troublesome 

 on Heliotropes ; the best remedy is fumi- 

 gation. 



HEMIANDRA. 



These are evergreen greenhouse plants 

 found in New Holland, and the Adcinity of 

 the Swan River ; they are inferior to many 

 of like habit that come from the same 

 parts. They succeed with treatment such 

 as advised for Eriostemons, which see. 



The following are the most distinct : — 



H. emarginata. Flowers white and 

 pink. 



H. pungens. 



H. rupestris. White. 



These are all spring bloomers. 



HEXACENTRIS MYSORENSIS. 



There are few more handsome stove- 

 climbing plants, and none more distinct, 

 than the Mysore Hexacentris, which when it 

 first bloomed produced quite a sensation. 

 Its curiously shaped crimson and yellow 

 flowers, in long pendulous racemes, are 

 seen to best advantage drooping from the 

 roof of a moderately cool stove. It is one 

 of the freest of free-growers, and will even 

 thrive under conditions as regards treat- 

 ment which would be fatal to plants of a 

 more delicate constitution. Although a 

 free grower, however, it is easily kept 

 within reasonable bounds, inasmuch as it 

 will bear pruning better than most plants. 

 It is not very generally cultivated, and the 

 reason for this probably is that, being a 

 native of Mysore, many have been led to 

 suppose that it I'equired more heat than 

 has proved conducive to its blooming 

 freely. As has frequently occurred in the 

 case of other plants, cultivators have been 

 left in the unfortunate position of knowing 

 nothing about the locality in which it is 

 found wild ; but as it evidently doe.s better 

 with somewhat cooler treatment than many 

 things we have from the same country, we 



