Greenlwuse and Stove Plants. 



TESTUDINARIA. 



The plant produces suckers freely, and 

 the best method of propagation is by layer- 

 ing these singly in pots in winter when at 

 rest ; allow them to remain attached to 

 the parent plant until well-rooted, when 

 they must be severed, and afterwards 

 grown on under conditions of warmth and 

 air, such as already indicated, with plenty 

 of light. In common with other plants 

 from the same country it will bear a high 

 temperature in summer with a dry atmo- 

 sphere, plenty of sun and no stint of water 

 to the roots, but must be kept as dry in 

 the winter as consistent with an evergreen, 

 the leaves of which would naturally suffer 

 if the drying process was carried too far. 

 A winter temperature of 40° to 45° by 

 night will answer for it ; in summer 55° 

 to 60° in the night, and as much as the 

 sun, with plenty of air, will raise it to in 

 the day. When large enough the plants 

 should be turned out in a well-drained bed 

 of good porous loamy soil with a moderate 

 amount of sand in it. 



Insects. — If troubled with any of the 

 pests that affect plants grown under glass 

 syringe freely with clean water and sponge 

 with insecticide. 



TEMPLETONIA. 



These are low-growing evergreen shrubs 

 that bloom in spring. Their flowers are 

 pretty, but not so effective as those pro- 

 duced by many of our greenhouse plants. 



They succeed with similar treatment to 

 Epacrises, which see. 



T. glaiica. Has red flowers, produced in 

 spring. It comes from New Holland. 



2'. retusa. Also bears red flowers ; it is 

 likewise a spring bloomer, and comes from 

 New Holland. 



TERMINALIA ELEGANS. 



In this we have an evergreen stove plant 

 from Madagascar, distinct and handsome. 

 Its trifoliate, lance-shaped leaves are not 

 unlike those of some of the Aralias, and 

 are extremely beautiful ; the ground colour 

 is deep green, the midrib red, and a red 

 reticulation runs through the whole of the 

 leaves ; as they get old this red veining 

 becomes almost as clearly defined and 

 vivid as that of the beautiful Ansectochi- 

 lus setaceus. It is a plant of medium or 

 small growth, attaining about the same 

 size as Aralia Veitchii, and easily grown 

 where a high tem^Derature can be main- 

 tained. It can be pi'opagated by grafting 

 it on any of the Aralias with pithy stems, 

 such as A. Veitchii ; it will also grow from 

 root cuttings made from half-inch pieces of 

 the stronger roots, inserted with their ends 



just above the surface in pots drained and 

 filled with sand in a temperature of 75° or 

 80°. When raised in this way the cuttings 

 should be put in about the end of March 

 so that the plant from which they are 

 taken can at once be started afresh in a 

 brisk heat ; the cuttings as soon as they 

 commence to grow must be stood in a 

 moderately light position. When they 

 have made a few leaves they should be 

 moved singly into 3-inch pots, using good 

 peaty soil with sand added ; they will bear 

 through the summer as much heat as any 

 plant in cultivation, say 70° in the night, 

 with 80° or 90° by day in bright weather. 

 Shade from the sun when it is powerful, 

 give air in accordance with the weather, 

 syringe overhead in the afternoons, and 

 keep a moderately humid atmosphere all 

 through the season of growth. Continue 

 to treat in this way until the approach of 

 colder weather, then leave off shading, and 

 keep the atmosphere drier. A temperature 

 of 60° or 65° should be kept ujo by night 

 in the winter, with less water at the roots, 

 but the soil must never be allowed to get 

 dry, or the foliage of this and all similar 

 plants will suffer. In spring increase the 

 warmth and resume the tieatment gene- 

 rally recommended for the preceding sum- 

 mer, giving pots 2 or 3 inches larger as the 

 soil gets filled with roots. Treat through 

 the ensuing winter as in the last, again 

 give larger pots in spring, and manage 

 then through the summer as before. Dur- 

 ing this, the third, summer the plants will 

 grow so as to be seen to advantage, retain- 

 ing their beauty as long as the lower leaves 

 continue healthy, after which they can be 

 headed down to within 6 inches of the 

 collar, and when the young shoots have 

 grown to a length of 6 inches reduce them 

 to one, shaking out the soil and moving 

 into pots a size smaller. If the upper 

 portion of the heads only are taken off, the 

 tops may be struck, and the shoots which 

 will break out from the stem can be taken 

 oft' with a heel and struck in the way found 

 successful in the case of other jjlants that 

 require a strong heat ; treat the young 

 stock thus obtained in a similar manner to 

 that advised for the plants raised from root 

 cuttings. 



Insects. — The smooth, glossy surface of 

 the leaves does not afford much harbour 

 for insects, so that all which may affect 

 them can be removed by syringing except 

 scale, which is easily got rid of by sponging. 



TESTUDINARIA ELEPHANTIPES. 



This singular plant is more curious than 

 beautiful ; it is a deciduous greenhouse 



