332 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



THUNBERGIA. 



THIBAUDIA. 



A genus of pretty evergreen shrubs, the 

 most desirable kinds of which may be 

 grown under greenhouse treatment, but 

 are better for a little more warmth in the 

 winter than the generality of plants culti- 

 vated in such structures usually receive. 



They can be propagated by shoot cut- 

 tings struck in an ordinary way, and grown 

 on under conditions such as answer for 

 other warm greenhouse subjects. Peat 

 soil, to which a moderate amount of sand 

 is added, is best for them. They should 

 have plenty of light all through the grow- 

 ing season to thoroughly ripen their wood, 

 vipon which depends the production of the 

 full quantity of bloom. The flowers of all 

 the undermentioned kinds are tubular in 

 shape, and when the plants are well man- 

 aged they are produced in such quantities 

 as to render them effective. 



T. acuminata. A free-blooming species 

 that keeps on producing its red flowers for 

 a considerable time during the spring 

 months. It comes from Ecuador. 



T. ^ussiecei. A large-leaved species, the 

 flowers, red in coloui', are borne in bunches 

 in spring. From the Caraccas. 



T. macrantha. A handsome species, 

 bearing in spring quantities of jiretty red 

 and white flowers. Introduced from Moul- 

 mein. 



Insects. — Eed spider is often trouble- 

 .some on these plants in summer if due 

 attention is not given them by a regular 

 use of the syringe. Aphides sometimes 

 aft'ect the young shoots, and can best be 

 got rid of by fumigation. 



THRINAX. 



In this genus we find some of the hand- 

 somest of stove Palms known to culti- 

 vators ; they attain a medium size, but are 

 several years before getting too large to 

 be accommodated in a house of ordinary 

 dimensions. They will thrive in an inter- 

 mediate temperature. 



The method of propagation and after 

 management will be found under Palms, 

 general details of culture. 



2\ barbadensis. A handsome, free-grow- 

 ing stove species that attains a moderate 

 .size ; the leaves are fan-shaped, and divided 

 on the margin. Very pretty in a small 

 state. It conies from Barbadoes. 



T. multiflora. A beautiful stove species 

 that requires a good deal of room, as it ac- 

 quires age the leaves extend so as to cover 

 a considerable space ; they are fan-shaped, 

 deeply divided at the margin ; the under 

 surface is white. From Central America. 



T. parviflora. This is a smaller grower 

 than the preceding kind ; the stem, leaf- 

 stalk, and leaf-blade all being much smaller, 

 the margin of the leaves is deeply divided. 

 It is a very effective plant. From the West 

 Indies. 



T. radiata (syn. : T. elegans). This also 

 is a stove species, and one of the hand- 

 somest of the genus. It attains a medium 

 size, the leaves are palmate, shining green 

 in colour, and deeply divided at the margin. 

 From the West Indies. 



THUNBERGIA. 



There are several stove species of this 

 family well deserving of more general cul- 

 tivation than they receive. They are 

 evergreen climbers of vigorous habit, and 

 particularly suited to a large house where 

 their free, vigorous growth has scope for 

 extension, as it is under such conditions 

 that their pendent branches and handsome 

 flowers are seen to advantage. In small 

 structures where there arises the necessity 

 for a continuous use of the knife to keep 

 them within bounds, they have little 

 chance of displaying their natural habit 

 of flowering, and it is on this account most 

 likely that the plants get an indifferent 

 reputation, and are comparatively seldom 

 met with. Most of the species worth 

 grooving can be raised from seeds, but 

 as these plants, in common with many 

 things of a vigorous habit, do not often 

 produce seed under cultivation, it is neces- 

 sary to obtain imported seeds when they 

 are raised in this way, and, as they propa- 

 gate readily from cuttings, it is well to 

 confine the details of their increase to this 

 method. After the plants have been cut 

 in during winter and have again broken 

 into growth, when the shoots have reached 

 a length of 4 inches take them off with a 

 heel and insert them singly in small pots, 

 drained, and half filled with sandy soil, 

 the remainder all sand ; keep them moist 

 and close under a propagating glass in a 

 temperature of 70°. They will loot in a 

 few weeks ; then remove the glass, and as 

 soon as the little pots contain a fair amount 

 of roots shift to others 6 inches or 7 inches 

 in diameter. It is not of much consequence 

 whether peat or loam is used to grow them 

 in, as from their free habit they will suc- 

 ceed in either ; although, as we have be- 

 fore said in speaking of vigorous-habited 

 stove subjects, they generally bloom freer 

 in good loam than in peat. Use the soil 

 in a rougher condition than is necessaiy 

 for weaker-rooted things. The plants, 

 being climbers, will, as they get fairly into 

 growth, need a stick each for support ; 



