210 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants 



to take out the flowers, and treat as before 

 through the summer in stopping, training, 

 air, and water. If all goes well, by the 

 autumn they will have made growth 18 

 inches in length from the base, strong and 

 bushy ; harden up by the admission of 

 more air after the middle of August, and 

 tie with a few thin sticks. With proper 

 attention as to water and repotting, when 

 such is required, plants so treated will last 

 and keep improving for years. 



The natural disposition of this Hovea to 

 run up for a considerable height with a 

 single stem, renders it, as already said, well 

 adapted for occupying a limited space on a 

 conservatory roof or as a pillar plant. In 

 cases where it is so employed, it should be 

 from the seed-pan or cutting-pot trained 

 to a single stem, without branching until 

 it gets high enough for the place required, 

 when the point must be jDinched out, as 

 the head is formed training it in the 

 desired shape. It shows best when allowed 

 to grow comparatively loose ; in this way 

 it will bloom pi'ofusely and ilpen quantities 

 of seed, which will, from its scarcity, be of 

 considerable value. Any one who has 

 never seen the plant so gi'own can form no 

 idea of its beauty and the size it will 

 attain. 



H. pungens is somewhat dissimilar to 

 the above, very slender in appearance, but 

 not so large a grower, and is not fit for -Mxy 

 purpose other than as a moderate-sized pot 

 specimen, for which it is well adapted, its 

 colour, also deep bluish purple, harmoni- 

 sing well with most other inhabitants of 

 the hardwooded house. 



Insects. — So far as we have seen, 

 Hoveas are subjects upon which mildew 

 will not exist ; nor are they much liable 

 to the attacks of insects. Red spider will 

 live upon them, but they are not often 

 attacked by it ; here, however, as in most 

 other cases, prevention is better than cure, 

 and this can easily be secured by using the 

 syringe well to the underside of the leaves 

 once a week, through the hottest part of 

 summer. Scale will live and increase fast 

 upon them, especially the white species, 

 consequently they should never be allowed 

 to come in contact with any plant affected 

 with this worst of insects. On these, as 

 with most hardwooded plants, brown scale 

 can be destroyed by washing in the autumn 

 Avhen growth is completed, and before the 

 bloom is prominent, with insecticide. 



HOYA. 



(Stove.) 



The individual species of these fine 

 flowering plants are very different in their 



appearance, as they also are in the treat- 

 ment they require, from the strong-growing, 

 heat-loving H. imperialis from Borneo, 

 which is a twiner, to the most elegant 

 dwarf shrubby H. bella, which hails from 

 Taung Kola. They are very distinct and 

 beautiful plants, easy of cultivation, and 

 have the advantage over many things of a 

 twining or climbing habit, in not being 

 too rampant in growth — consequently the 

 twining species are suitable for places 

 where plants of larger size would be less 

 manageable. They are appropriate for 

 clothing pillars and raftei's, or for training 

 longitudinally over the paths in the stove. 

 Grown in the latter position their flowers 

 droop so as to be seen to the best advantage. 

 In most of the species they are borne in 

 bunches, upon stout, persistent spurs, that 

 issue from the base of the leaf-stalks at 

 intervals up the stems. These make their 

 appearance as the young shoots are formed, 

 lasting for many years, and from them are 

 emitted the flowers — two or three times in 

 the course of the season in the case of some 

 kinds. There is one matter that should be 

 observed in the cultivation of these per- 

 sistent-spurred kinds : that is, if the flowers 

 are cut for bouquets or similar purposes, on 

 no account should the spurs be removed 

 with them, or it necessarily follows that 

 the blooming capabilities are so far reduced 

 as to make the future supply be dependent 

 on the formation of fresh spurs, which are 

 only produced upon the young shoots. It 

 is requisite to mention this for the guidance 

 of beginners in the culture of Hoyas, as we 

 have known large specimens, when in the 

 hands of the inexperienced, completely 

 stripped of their blooming spurs, which had 

 taken years to form, causing them to be 

 compai'atively flowei'less until fresh growths 

 had been made — thus entailing much dis- 

 appointment, as in most cases it necessitated 

 the plants being headed down. 



Amongst the twining species that need a 

 warm temperature the foremost place is 

 held by H. imperialis. This is a native of 

 Borneo ; it is a strong-growing plant with 

 ample thick leathery leaves, and beais 

 very large bunches of pale brown and 

 yellow flowers. With this may be as- 

 sociated, in the general treatment they 

 require, the Cinnamon-leaved Hoya, H. 

 cinnamomifolia, a plant of medium growth, 

 with pale green and chocolate flowers ; the 

 bell-flowered Hoya, H. campanulata, which 

 bears greenish-yellow flowers : both these 

 are from Java ; and H. Cunninghamii, also 

 a handsome species. They strike freely at 

 almost any time of the year, but if put in 

 about April get well established in theii 

 pots before the summer is over ; if at this 



