PASSI FLORA. 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants 



267 



species, very handsome in either a large or 

 small state/ From the South Sea Islands. 

 Insects. — The hard texture of the leaves 

 of these plants does not offer much attrac- 

 tion to insects generally, which are easily 

 kept under by .syringing. If .'jcale affects 

 them, sponging must be resorted to. 



PAPYRUS. 



These are handsome evergreen plants, 

 best suited with a moderate stove tempera- 

 ture, although they will live in a green- 

 house. They are aquatics, suitable for 

 growing in a tank of a house devoted to 

 water plants, but will thrive well in pots 

 if kept stood in water. 



They can be raised from seeds and also 

 by division of the crowns, which latter will 

 usually be more convenient. The propaga- 

 tion by this means should be carried out 

 in spring before growth begins ; turn the 

 plants out of the pots, shake away the soil, 

 and then with a knife separate the crowns, 

 which place singly in pots large enough to 

 accommodate the roots and allow for the 

 season's growth. Ordinary loam answers 

 for them. As soon as potted give water 

 and stand the pots in the stove in pans 

 of water kept regularly tilled. The usual 

 stove treatment, with a daily use of the 

 syringe is all they require, and larger pots 

 should be given as needed proportionate 

 to the size the plants are wanted to be 

 grown to. 



P. antiquorum. The Egyptian paper 

 plant. A handsome species that forms 

 large heads of singular drooping leaves A 

 native of Egypt. 



P. sijriacus. A fine kind, very effective 

 when well grown. 



Insects.— Few insects affect these plants 

 when properly attended to with water and 

 frequent syringing ; through the growing 

 season aphides sometimes give trouble, for 

 these fumigate. 



PASSIFLORA. 



{Stove.) 



PassiHoras constitute a large family of 

 evergreen climbers, mostly of strong growth, 

 especially such as are strictly stove species, 

 which are here treated of. ]\Iany of them 

 are only adapted for comparatively large 

 structures ; if introduced to small houses 

 it becomes necessary to use the knife to 

 such an extent that little of their true 

 habit and disposition to flower is possible, 

 while, on the other hand, if allowed to 

 ramble so as to exhibit their natural cha- 

 lucter they all but smother everything 

 else, and, however desirable it may be to 



see such plants developed to their full ex- 

 tent, few people will care to give up a 

 whole house or division in a range 

 almost entirely to a single plant or two. 

 Where, however, there is sufficient room 

 they lank amongst the grandest of climb- 

 ing'^ or twining plants. Their cultivation 

 is very easy, as they are generally in- 

 different to the description of soil their 

 roots are placed in, provided it is not too 

 adhesive or too poor ; in the former case, 

 from the quantity of water required to de- 

 velop and maintain their large amount of 

 leaf surtace, it would become sour and un- 

 kindly, and if too poor, the foliage always 

 looks' sickly, and is liable to be infested 

 with insects, which are usually persistent 

 in their attacks on plants not in a free 

 condition of growth. But in avoiding this 

 the opposite mistake must not be com- 

 mitted of using the soil in too rich a state, 

 as in this case the plants grow so rampant 

 as to be unmanageable ; if a little manurial 

 assistance becomes necessary it can be sup- 

 plied in a liquid state. The Passion 

 flowers are botanically nearly allied to 

 the Tacsonias ; the species here treated of 

 require considerable heat, being natives of 

 hot countries, such as the warmest parts of 

 Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica, and other West 

 Indian Islands. One of the finest— if not 

 the very finest — of the group, P. quad- 

 rangularis, is from Jamaica ; it has ample, 

 deep green, handsome foliage, and very 

 large beautiful flowers, singular like the 

 rest of the family in their strange forma- 

 tif)n, as well as in the effect produced by 

 their combination of blue, red, and 

 green ; in P. Buonapartea, sometimes grown 

 under the name of the former species, the 

 colour is red, blue, and white. 



They strike readily from cuttings made 

 of the" young shoots taken oft' with a heel 

 during the spring, when they have at- 

 tained a lengtli of 5 or 6 inches. Insert 

 them singly in small pots drained and half 

 filled with'sandy peat, the remainder sand 

 alone ; keep them moist and confined 

 under a bell-glass or in a propagating 

 frame vnih or without bottom heat. They 

 will root in the course of a few weeks, 

 when the glass may be dispensed with ; as 

 soon as the small pots are moderately filled 

 with roots, shift into larger ones. From 

 their free habit of growth they will bear 

 a larger shift than most things. Six or 7 

 inch pots will not be too big, placing a 

 stick to support each plant. They will 

 stand a strong heat when there is sufficient 

 length of daylight to warrant its applica- 

 tion ; 70° in the night, with a proportionate 

 rise by dny, will not be too much, though 

 they will grow, but comparatively slowei-, 



