RONDELETIA, 



Greenhouse and Stooe Plants. 



303 



cultivation has been attempted it has often 

 happened that they have bloomed indif- 

 ferently. This may generally, we think, 

 be traced to their having been grown in too 

 much heat, or to their roots being confined, 

 as they do not succeed so well in pots as 

 when planted out. They are hardwooded 

 evergreen shrubs. Their flowers are borne 

 in bunches, in form not unlike those of a 

 Rondeletia. Their propagation is by cut- 

 tings, which strike best when made of 

 shoots produced from branches that have 

 been cut back, taking the young growths 

 off with a heel in spring as soon as large 

 enough. These we have found to root 

 much better than cuttings made of ordi- 

 nary shoots. They do best put singly in 

 little jDots filled with sand, kept moist, 

 close, and shaded. When they are well 

 rooted and sufficiently hardened pot in 

 eandy peat. A temperature of 60° in the 

 night is enough for them during the 

 summer, with a proportionate rise by day. 

 Syringe overhead daily, allowing them 

 plenty of light, with a little shade in very 

 bright weatlier, and more air than the 

 generality of stove plants require. 



By the middle of July move them into 

 6-inch pots, using good peat. During this 

 time they will need the points of the shoots 

 pinched out, otherwise they will run up 

 thin with insufficient branches. Give more 

 air in the autumn ; in the night, through 

 the winter, a temperature of 50° will be 

 enough, and just as much water as will keep 

 the soil fairly moist should be given. In 

 March use a little more warmth, and as 

 soon as they show signs of beginning to 

 grow, move them into 9-inch or 10-inch 

 pots, treating them during summer as ad- 

 vised for the preceding season. Should 

 any of the branches evince a disposition to 

 out-grow the rest, cut them back. The 

 pots they are now in will be large enough 

 for the season. Treat as before during the 

 summer and following winter, and m the 

 spring they should be planted out where 

 they are to remain. The best position is 

 against the end of a house, where their 

 heads will get a fair amount of light, and 

 a small border can be made wherein to 

 turn them out ; drain it sufficiently and 

 fill it with turfy peat, to which add a 

 moderate quantity of sand ami some broken 

 •crocks. The shoots should be trained out 

 in fan shape, and will only require to be kept 

 regularly arranged to cover the allotted 

 space. They will flower during the ensuing 

 summer, after which slightly cut them in 

 and encourage further growth. Each year 

 when the blooming is over they will want 

 more or less shortening back according to 

 .the extent to be covered. When the soil 



gets tolerably well filled with roots a good 

 plan is to give weak manure-water once a 

 week through the growing season. If this 

 course is pursued, the result will be sturdy 

 examples that will in due season produce 

 plenty of flowers. 



There are only a small number of species 

 in cultivation, of which the undermentioned 

 are the most desirable : — 



R. amcena. A pretty rose-coloured kind 

 that blooms in the summer and autumn. 

 A native of Guatemala. 



R. gratissima. Flowers pink, a fine 

 species which, treated as above advised, 

 grows well. It comes from Mexico and 

 blooms in the summer and autumn. 



R. versicolor. Has red flowers, and is 

 also a summer and autumn bloomer ; from 

 Cential America. 



Insects. — These plants are not usually 

 much subject to insects if they are kept 

 syringed, as they should be, during the 

 summer, and they are not placed in con- 

 tact with other things that are affected 

 with scale ; this is troublesome wlien once 

 it gets established on them, and it is best 

 removed by sponging. 



RONDELETIA SPECIOSA MAJOR. 



This and the smallei'-flowered type are 

 stove plants, and possess much to commend 

 them to the general cultivator. They are 

 frequently seen on the exhibition table, but 

 are scarcely showy enough to find favour 

 Vvith growers for show purposes ; this, 

 however, does not in any way detract from 

 their merits as regards decoration or the 

 production of cut flowers. For the com- 

 paratively small quantity of high-coloured 

 flowers that a tasteful bouquet should con- 

 tain, we know of no plant more suitable 

 than the Rondeletia ; it possesses the 

 essential property of endurance when the 

 growth and flowers have been made under 

 the conditions requisite to impart this cha- 

 racter to them. To this in the selection of 

 flowers for such purposes, sufficient atten- 

 tion is not always given. The flowers are 

 equally durable on the plant, and will 

 keep fresh for many weeks in a conserva- 

 tory or greenhouse — that is if the plant 

 has been grown so as to avoid the soft, 

 tender state, consequent uj^on too much 

 heat and an over-moist atmospheie, with 

 the absence of suflacient light, for the 

 Rondeletia is more of an intermediate 

 house subject than of an ordinary stove. 

 It is a native of Havana, and ^^■ill winter 

 without injury in a night temperature of 

 50°, -with a corresponding rise during the 

 day. Hence those who have the means for 

 keeping up as much heat as this need not 



