TORENIA ASIATICA. 11 



It is of the easiest possible propagation, cuttings two or three inches long, planted 

 under a glass in a pot of light, moist soil, and placed upon a warm window, rooting with 

 with even greater readiness than the well known Cuphea platy centra, which is one of 

 the quickest-rooting plants with which we are acquainted. The plant affects a vegetable 

 soil, and will do well in a mixture of peat or leaf-mould and sandy loam, with well-drained 

 pots of moderate size. 



When grown as a window plant, it is best trained upon a flat trellis, which, from its 

 rapid growth, it will speedily cover ; and to induce its lateral extension, the extremity 

 of the shoots should be frequently pinched off ; or the pot may be suspended, and the 

 branches allowed to trail downwards, in which position the elegant habit of the plant, 

 combined with its lovely blossoms, renders it a highly interesting object. "We are 

 inclined to believe that, during the summer months, this plant may be cultivated as 

 successfully at an ordinary window as in the best green-house, as it will there enjoy 

 a greater amount of shade, and the duration of the flowers be proportionately 

 prolonged. 



"We have hinted at the possibility of its employment as a bedding-plant, but we are 

 unable to offer any observations as the result of personal experience. It has been stated, 

 apparently on good authority, that the plant will endure the open air in our climate 

 in summer, and in the southern counties it might probably succeed, but we doubt 

 whether the experiment would be successful far north of London. We intend to test 

 the matter fully during the present season, and in the meantime, we advise such of our 

 readers as may feel disposed to try the experiment for themselves, to adopt the following 

 precautions. Let the plant be one of moderate size that has been grown at a low tem- 

 perature ; let the soil be such as the plant naturally delights in, as where this is too tenacious, 

 no success can be reasonably anticipated ; and lastly, ensure a certain amount of shade, 

 by selecting a warm corner of the garden in which the sun does not shine during 

 the entire day. 



When the tropical character of its native regions is considered, it will excite no 

 surprise that it should require some care for its preservation during the cold months of 

 our winter, but we think that, in an apartment in which the temperature does not 

 descend below 50°, no difficulty will be found in keeping it alive, provided that it is 

 not too frequently watered. 



The genus Torenia commemorates the name of Olof Toren, a Swedish botanist of 

 some eminence. About ten or twelve species have been introduced, one of which 

 T. scabra, a plant well known to gardeners, may be cultivated as a half-hardy annual. 

 T. roncolor, introduced a year or two before Asiatica, is an interesting species, the flowers 

 of which are entirely of a deep blueish purple, and coming from Hong Kong, it is 

 rather more hardy than the plant we have figured. 



