314 THE GREENHOUSE. [CHAP. XL 



F. serratifolia have their flowers also greenish 

 at the tip. The flowers of F. macrantha are 

 exceedingly long, and though they are of a 

 pale colour, they are produced in such abund- 

 ance upon small plants as to be very orna- 

 mental, though they have no petals. This 

 species was found in its native country (Peru), 

 climbing on trees growing on lofty mountains, 

 and in this country it only requires a green- 

 house. F. serratifolia, on the contrary, though 

 also a native of Peru, requires a hothouse in 

 this country, as it grows in a wild state in 

 moist shady valleys. The flowers of this 

 species are very ornamental, and the stalk is of 

 a bright red. Another red-stalked species is 

 F. spectabilis, which has been called the Queen 

 of the Fuchsias, as it is supposed to be the 

 handsomest kind ever introduced. The leaves 

 are of a dark green, and of a rich purple on 

 the under side ; and the flowers are of a bril- 

 liant scarlet, with whitelobed stigmas. F. 

 arborea is a greenhouse species which will not 

 bear the open air near London. The flowers 

 are rather small and purplish, they are pro- 

 duced in clusters, and their shape resembles 

 that of the flowers of F. coccinea. Of the 

 small-flowered kinds, the best are F. micro- 

 phylla and F. cylindiacea, and they are both 

 tolerably hardy ; but they require a little pro- 

 tection in the neighbourhood of London. The 

 best fuchsia for rearing as a standard is F. 

 gracilis, and the mode of treating it is to keep 

 a plant under glass growing for three or four 

 years, and always rubbing off the side shoots, 

 only leaving those at the top. Treated in this 



