246 



Lrreenhmcse and Stove Plants. 



a most profuse bloomer ; comes from Rio 

 de Janeiro. 



M. micans. Red and orange coloured 

 flowers, very pretty, and, like M. bicolor, 

 very easily gvowm ; it comes from Peru. 



Insects. — Manettias are subject to red 

 spider and aphides ; the former are easily 

 kept under by syringing daily during the 

 growing season. Dip in tobacco-water or 

 fumigate to kill aphides. If attacked 

 with mealy bug, syringe with insecticide. 



MARANTA. 



Marantas, which are very handsome 

 stove fine-leaved plants, differ considerably 

 as regards the size to which they grow. 

 Among the numbers that have been in- 

 troduced of late years, there is to be found 

 great variety with respect to the marking 

 of the leaves, some having the surface 

 beautifully variegated with broad well- 

 defined blotches, others with delicate hues 

 of distinct colour running through a con- 

 siderable part of their leaf-blades. They 

 mostly belong to hot regions, and, therefore, 

 require a good deal of warmth. They are 

 not so quickly propagated as plants that 

 can be struck from cuttings ; they are 

 increased by division of the croAvais early 

 in spring just before growth commences ; 

 the most suitable plants for the purpose are 

 such as have grown to a considerable size 

 and consist of numerous ci'owns. About 

 the beginning of March turn them out of 

 their pots, shake most of the soil away 

 from the roots, and disentangle them as far 

 as can be done ; after that, with the help 

 of a knife, the whole may be reduced to 

 single crowns if desired, or they can be 

 simply divided into two or more pieces as 

 occasion may require ; in the latter case 

 each portion should be placed in a pot 

 that will allow space enough for the roots 

 and a fair quantity of new soil. If a total 

 separation of the crowns has been effected, 

 each piece should be put in a 5 or 6 inch 

 pot, or whatever size is found sufficient to 

 hold them, with as much soil as seems 

 requisite for the roots to ramble in. 

 Marantas like a moderately moist atmo- 

 sphere with shade when the sun gets power- 

 ful, otherwise their rich glossy appearance 

 will be lost. Sufficient water should be 

 given to slightly moisten the new soil, and 

 where they have been much divided they 

 should have a confined atmosj^here, such as 

 that afforded by a propagating frame until 

 they root, and the young buds, which will 

 break from the crowns of the old growth, 

 begin to move ; after that inure them to 

 the full air of the house. 



After division in this way they should 



be kept in a temperature of 60" or 65° at 

 night, with a rise by day proportionate to 

 the state of the weather. As the summer 

 advances they will bear more warmth, but 

 it is not well to keep them too hot, and 

 although, as already stated, they will not 

 do with exposure to full sunshine, they 

 must not be over-much darkened and kept 

 too far from the glass, or the growth made 

 will be so soft and tender as not to stand 

 even for a short time later on in the 

 summer removal to a cooler atjnosphere, 

 which such plants are often required to 

 bear. To still further induce a robust 

 condition they should have a moderate 

 quantity of air admitted for a time each 

 day during the growing season, with the 

 atmosphere fairly moist ; they should also 

 at that period be syringed daily. By the 

 beginning of July those that seem to 

 require more room ought to have pots a 

 little larger. They will succeed in either 

 peat or loam ; in the latter their leaves are 

 often higher coloured than in peat, in 

 which they grow fastest. In autumn dis- 

 continue shading and the use of the syringe, 

 and give a little more air. A temperature 

 of 60° in the night during winter will 

 suffice. All afterwards required is pot- 

 room proportionate to the size to which the 

 plants are wanted to grow. 



The following are distinct and beautiful 

 kinds : — 



M. alho-lineata. A fine kind from 

 Colombia of stout habit ; ground colour 

 pale green, with narrow, distinct white lines 

 running partly through the outer portion 

 of the leaf-blade. 



M. bella. Handsomely variegated with 

 pale grejnsh green and dark green in the 

 way of M. Makoyana ; Brazil. 



M. concinna. Leaves light green, 

 blotched with blackish green ; South 

 America. 



31. inscripta. A medium-growing species. 

 The undersides of the leaves are red : upper 

 surface clouded green, distinctly barred 

 with white ; Brazil 



M. leopardina. An erect-habited kind 

 that has medium-sized leaves, pale green, 

 regularly barred with dark green ; Brazil. 



M. leuconeura Massangeana. A small- 

 growing kind of distinct appearance ; 

 midiib banded on each side with grey, 

 lined and blotched with greyish white and 

 reddisli brown ; Brazil. 



M. Makoijana. A dwarf-growing species, 

 the leaves of which are of a greyish white 

 ground colour, and furnished with broad 

 oblong blotches of bottle-green with paler 

 lines running through them. 



M. nitens. A handsome small-growing 

 species, with bright green leaves, regularl} 



