HEXACE.VTKls. 



Greenhouse and Sfove Plants. 



•205 



should suppckse that it must have come 

 from an elevated district. When well- 

 grown, its di-ooping flower-spLkes extend 

 to as much as 15 inches in length. It is 

 best adapted for draping the rafters of the 

 house in which it is ciiltivated, or it may 

 be trained during the growing season on 

 thin twine near the glass, where it wiU be 

 fuUy under the influence of light, and then 

 trained on a trellis lite the twining 

 Clerodendrons. It is a quick grower, and 

 can be got to a considerable size in a single 

 season. It mav either be planted out or 

 grown in a large pot. We prefer the latter, 

 as so managed it attains a size sufficient for 

 all ordinaiy purposes, and being a free- 

 rooting subject, it quickly exhausts the 

 soil, which can be more readily renewed 

 under pot culture than when ph\nted out. 

 It app<?ars to be a plant that under cultiva- 

 tion has no fixed season of blooming. We 

 have had flowers in abundance through 

 the winter and early spring months on 

 growth produced the preceding simimer, 

 well ripened up during the autimm and 

 slightly rested. We have also succeeded 

 in having plenty of flowers during the late 

 summer and autumn on the current 

 season's grow-th without any previous rest ; 

 but, to effect this, it must be in a thoroughly 

 light house, with little shade, more air, 

 and less moisture than the majority of 

 stove plants need, and also not too much 

 heat, otherwise it keeps on growing with- 

 out seeming to have time to flower until 

 checked. 



The ripening process should be effected 

 by a drier state of both atmosphere and 

 soil. Plants that have been rested through 

 the autumn or winter in a temperature of < 

 about 55" at night soon commence to grow \ 

 when subjected to 5" or 10° more warmth 

 and produce abundance of cuttings. These 

 shoidd be taken oft" with a heel of firm 

 wood attached to them when about 6 

 inches long, inserted singly in small pots, 

 two-thirds filled -with sandy loam, the 

 remaining portion pure sand, kept moist 

 and covered with a propagating glass in a 

 temperature of 70\' They will root in 

 a few weeks, when they may be gradually 

 inured to the full air of the house, and 

 when sufficient roots have been formed 

 (which will be by the beginning or middle 

 of May) they may be moved to 6-inch pots, 

 well drained and filled with good fibrous 

 loam, to which should be added enough 

 sand to allow the water to pass away 

 freely. The plant appears to grow equally 

 well in either peat or loam, but we prefer 

 loam thi-ough all stages of its growth, as in 

 it it has a less disposition to make wockI, 

 and is more inclined to flower. When the 



plants have attained a foot in height, pinch 

 out the points to induce the production of 

 several shoots, which shoidd be kept 

 regularly trained round foiu- or five tall 

 sticks inserted in the pots for the purpose. 

 Keep them now tolerably near the glass in 

 an ordiniuy stove temperature day and 

 night, or if they can be accommodated in 

 a temperature a few degrees cooler, all the 

 better. Sixty degrees at night is sufficient 

 with 80° in the day, but a few degrees 

 either way matters not, provided the plants 

 are where they can receive a little more 

 air with a drier atmosphere than the 

 generalits- of stove pLmts are treated to at 

 the present day. Syringe freely overhead 

 every afternoon, and use a slight shade 

 in the brightest part of the day if the 

 leaves are found to scorch, not otherwise. 

 By the midtUe of Jidy the roots will have 

 filled the pots, when the plants can be 

 moved to othere 3 inches larger, the soil 

 used now being a little rougher than before, 

 but of a simUai- nature. Keep the shoots 

 regulai-ly ti-ained round the sticks ; if this 

 is not done they are sure to get entangled. 

 Continue the same treatment as before 

 until the beginning of September, when 

 syringing should be stopped. More air 

 ought to be given now and less water at 

 the roots, so as to gradually induce a state 

 of rest. Through the winter keep them at 

 from 50° to 55^ by night and a few degrees 

 higher in the daytime, with no more water 

 than •svill just prevent the leaves flagging. 

 About the middle or end of Febniary 

 increase the temperature 5° day and night, 

 and as soon as the phmts begin to grow 

 they may have a large shift— a 16 or 18 

 inch pot will not be too much — using the 

 loam in a lumpy state ; if destined to be 

 grown as roof-climbers the shoots should 

 be trained under the i-afters, or in whatever 

 position they are to occupy. Be careful 

 not to over- water, as it -n-ill take some time 

 for the roots to fairly enter the large body 

 of new soU. Admit sufficient air" during 

 the day through the spring, but avoid cold 

 draughts, and syringe freely at the time of 

 closing the house in the afternoon. As the 

 sun's power increases give a little more 

 heat, but no more shade than seems ab- 

 solutely necessary. 



Continue to train the shoots as they 

 advance in growth, treating the plants in 

 other respects through the simimer as in 

 the preceding year ; in autumn give more 

 air, withholding atmospheric moisture and 

 reduce the amount at the roots, so far a^ can 

 be done without injuring the foliage. Let 

 the treatment through the ^vinter be the 

 same as before. Again, as the days lengthen 

 in spring increase the heat and give more 



