342 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



VICTORIA REGIA. 



V.^Rollissonii. Flowers scarlet ; a spring 

 bloomer. From Java. 



VALLOTA. 



Evergreen greenhouse bulbs that pro- 

 duce freely large scarlet Amaryllis-like 

 flowers. Vallotas are very nearly allied to 

 Amaryllis, and are increased in the same 

 way by offsets which are produced in large 

 numbers : these require to be taken off the 

 parent plants and treated as advised for 

 the evergreen kinds of Amaryllis, except 

 that they do not need anything above a 

 greenhouse temperature at any time of the 

 year. In winter the soil should be kept 

 drier, but this must not be carried so far 

 as to injure the leaves. 



The undermentioned varieties differ only 

 slightly : — 



V. purpurea. Flowers scarlet, blooms 

 towards the end of summer. A native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. 



V. purpurea major. Scarlet, flowers a 

 little earlier than V. purpurea. Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



V. purpurea minor. A smaller-floM^ered 

 variety ; scarlet. From the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



Insects. — For aphides fumigate. Syringe 

 through the summer at times to keep down 

 red spider ; scale should be removed by 

 sponging, 



VERONICA. 



In these we have free-growing and 

 equally free - flowering evergreen soft- 

 wooded plants, with bright shining leaves 

 and dense compact habit of growth. They 

 are useful additions to our autumn-bloom- 

 ing plants suitable for greenhouse decora- 

 tion. 



They should be struck from cuttings, 

 about February in warmth, similarly 

 to Fuchsias, then moved singly into 3-inch 

 pots, using ordinary loam well enriched ; 

 stop the shoots as soon as they begin 

 to grow. After they are fully esta- 

 blished keep in a greenhouse until the 

 middle of May, when plant them out in 

 moderately light soil in an open situation, 

 giving water as required through the sum- 

 mer. About the middle of September take 

 the plants up with no more root breakage 

 than unavoidable and pot them ; keep 

 them in a close frame for a few weeks till 

 the roots have begun to move freely, after 

 which give air and water as needed, and 

 treat like ordinary greenhouse stock. 



The following desirable sorts are all 

 garden hybrids : — 



V. Andersonii. A free-blooming kind, 

 with lavender, blue and white flowers. 



V. Andersonii variegata. A prettily varie- 

 gated form of the above. 



V. Blue Gem. A dwarf-growing, pretty,, 

 blue-flowered variety ; a profuse bloomer, 



V. Brillantissima. A handsome sort, 

 with crimson and white flowers. 



V. Gloire de Lorraine Lavender and 

 white. 



V. Ne plus ultra. Dark blue and white 



V. rosea elegans. Pink and white. 



V. Socrates. Violet and ruby. 



Insects. — We have not found these 

 plants aff'ected with any insects except 

 aphides, for which fumigate. 



VERSCHAFFELTIA 



This genus of stove Palms is represented 

 by two species, both of which are fine 

 kinds, and require a strong heat to grow 

 well. 



For propagation and cultivation, see 

 Palms, geneial details of culture. 



V. melanochastes. A handsome and dis- 

 tinct-looking species ; the stem is heavily 

 armed with spines ; the leaves, which at- 

 tain a moderate size, are entire while the 

 plant is in its first stages of growth, un- 

 evenly pinnate as it gets older. From the 

 Seychelles. 



V. splendens. An exceedingly handsome 

 species, with straight, slendei-, heavily- 

 spined stem ; somewhat short leaf-stalks 

 supporting large plaited leaves, which are 

 deeply divided at the extremity, and 

 slightly so on the margin. From the 

 Seychelles. 



VICTORIA REGIA. 



This, the Queen of Water Lilies, is un- 

 questionably the finest of all ac^uatic plants. 

 The gigantic proportions of its leaves, 

 which even in a cultivated state attain a 

 size of 6 or 8 feet in diameter, make a large 

 house necessary for its culture ; the tank 

 in which it is planted should not be less 

 than 24 feet across — if more all the. better 

 — and 4 feet deep. It must also be pro- 

 vided with a sufficient quantity of hot 

 water piping to keep the water at a uniform 

 temperature night and day, of from 80° to 

 to 85° — this is indispensable as, like other 

 water plants from hot countries, it will 

 not succeed if the heat of the water fluc- 

 tuates to any considerable extent. 



In this country it is usually treated as 

 an annual ; the seeds should be sown 

 about the beginning of the year. It is 

 best to raise the plants in a tank, or other 

 receptacle, much smaller than that which 

 they are ultimately to occupy. The water 

 must be kept regularly at the temperature 

 I above mentioned, put a few inches of soil 



