44 THTJNBEKGIA ALATA ALBA. 



and, as the roots descend deeply into the soil of the pot, the young plants will be 

 best potted off separately, as soon as they have made one pair of leaves, in addition 

 to the seed-lobes ; in the whole of their after treatment, a free, open, vegetable soil 

 must be used. If intended as a window ornament, as soon as the small pots are 

 filled with roots, the plants should be shifted to one at least six inches in diameter, 

 if a fine specimen is desired ; and an important point to be attended to is, that the 

 leading shoot must be pinched off when it is a few inches long ; and this operation 

 must be repeated as often as the laterals threaten to outgrow their trellis, by which 

 means a multitude of side shoots will be produced, and the plant be restrained 

 within moderate bounds. All the varieties of alata produce an abundance of flowers 

 for three or four months in succession ; and when covering, as they can easily be 

 made to do, a wire trellis three feet in diameter, more striking objects cannot well be 

 imagined. 



To preserve the delicate green tint of the foliage, the plant should be shaded from 

 the direct rays of the sun during the hottest part of the day ; and as the whole of 

 the whole Thunbergias are extremely liable to the attacks of a minute insect 

 popularly termed the red spider, the plant should be frequently sprinkled or syringed 

 with water. During this operation the pot should be turned on its side ; the soil 

 will thus be preserved from too much moisture, and the application of the water 

 can be more effectually carried out. If the plant is kept in a dry hot atmosphere, 

 and the precaution of syringing be neglected, the leaves will speedily lose their 

 rich green hue, and assume a pale spotted appearance, and upon a close examination, 

 the little pests to which we have alluded will be found in vast numbers upon 

 all parts of the plant, chiefly, however, on the under surface of the foliage. 



When cultivated out-doors, a shady situation and rich light soil must be chosen, 

 as in a hot, dry, exposed locality they will not succeed. They may be grown 

 against a wall with a suitable trellis, or allowed to trail ; but in this case the 

 ground should be covered with a few small bushes, which the plants will quickly 

 conceal. A very pretty effect may be produced by planting several specimens in a 

 small bed, and training them over a few willow rods bent across from side to side. 

 In short, in almost any situation partially shaded, and where proper support can be 

 given to their twining stems, the Thunbergias will be found among the most 

 ornamental of the summer occupants of the flower-garden. 



The genus bears the name of the celebrated Swedish botanist, and traveller, 

 Charles Peter Thunberg, formerly Professor of Botany in the University of Upsal, 

 and author of a celebrated work, entitled Fhra Japonica. 



