THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 181 



Chili, introduced by the Messrs. Loddiges. This is described in 

 some works as white and rose, but this is not correct. The throat 

 is a pale canary, and the segments of the flower are deeply tipped 

 with rosy purple, the remaining parts being a rich gold yellow. 

 This species seeds freely, and is not at all difficult to cultivate. M. 

 glutinosus is now a rare plant. It is the most shrubby of all, and 

 well worth recovering for crossing with good varieties of weak habit. 

 Smitlul is a fine hybrid, raised some years ago by Mr. George Smith 

 from rivularis as the male parent, and variegatus as the female. The 

 flower is large, the ground colour orange yellow, at the tip of each 

 petal is a large brownish, crimson blotch, and there are small spots 

 of the same around the throat. 



Twelve Finest Exhibition Varieties (Downie, Laird, and Lang). — 

 Alexander Haig, light lemon, dark maroon margin ; Danecroft 

 Beauty, white with crimson blotches ; Distinctus, lemon, deep crim- 

 son margin ; Grand Sultan, pure white throat, black margin ; Lydia, 

 bright yellow and crimson ; Magniflora, white and cherry ; Mrs. 

 Dickson, yellow, crimson blotches ; Mrs. E. Lockart, white and 

 maroon ; Baphael, pure gold margin and deep claret ; Spotted Gem, 

 gold and maroon ; Sultan, yellow and purple ; Symmetry, straw, 

 spotted with cherry red. 



Mimulus for Bedding. — All the hybrids are adapted for bedding, 

 and, as a matter of course, the dwarfest are most easily managed. 

 On hot, dry soils they are useless ; the foliage loses its proper 

 colour, and the plants are eaten up with red spider ; but on a cool, 

 moist loam, and in damp places, where many kinds of bedders would 

 be unhappy, the mimulus is quite at home. When any selected 

 hybrids are grown for bedding, they may be kept in their cutting 

 pots till May, and then be turned out and sheltered from the sun, 

 and kept well watered till rooted ; generally the colours come much 

 finer out of doors than under glass ; this is especially the case with 

 rivularis, which is a charming plant for a mass, but unfortunately 

 fugacious. Good beds may be made of seedling plants from Feb- 

 ruary sowings, but there will be no uniformity of colouring. Flori- 

 bundiis, parviflorus, and moschatus make better clumps when grown 

 in moist and shady beds of peat, but the last named should be used 

 rather for its odour than its colour ; for however profusely it may 

 flower, it is by no means effective in a mass. It is otherwise with 

 M. cuprcus, which is one of the finest bedding plants we possess. 

 It is perfectly hardy, and can be grown from either seed or cuttings, 

 and requires precisely the same treatment as Lobelia speciosa. It 

 grows four to six inches high, and produces a perfect blaze of fiery 

 flowers. A damp, shady bed suits it best. 



June. 



