1 86 Subtropical Gardening. 



country seldom arrives at more than half its full size. 

 The leaves are from 2 ft. to 10 ft. in length, and are 

 divided into numerous narrow leaflets from 1 ft. to i? ft. 

 long, and of a dark green colour. The whole plant is 

 perfectly smooth, and is one of the finest subjects in 

 cultivation for the conservatory, greenhouse, or sub- 

 tropical garden. It may be placed in the open air from 

 the middle or end of May until the beginning of October. 

 It is too scarce as yet to be procurable by horticulturists 

 generally, but should be looked for by all who take an 

 interest in these matters and have a house in which to 

 grow it. It stands well in the conservatory during the 

 winter, though generally kept in the stove, where of 

 course it grows beautifully. There are hardier kinds — 

 the dwarf Fan-palm for example — but on the whole none 

 of them are so valuable as this. 



Senecio Ghiesbreghtii. — A handsome Mexican 

 plant with stout, round, spotted stems, 3 to 4 ft. high, 

 and large oval-oblong, thick, coarsely-toothed leaves 

 of a light green colour, and slightly rolled down at the 

 margin. Flowers small, yellow, very numerous, in corym- 

 bose clusters of enormous size. A useful plant for 

 isolation on grass-plats, or for beds, etc. Young plants 

 are to be preferred for this purpose, as the old ones are 

 apt to become bare and ragged-looking at the base. 

 Plant in a mixture of peat soil and free loam at the end 

 of May. Multiplied by cuttings in winter, struck under 

 glass in a temperate heat in early spring. 



Senecio Petasites (Cineraria platan if olio). — An- 

 other Mexican species, nearly 3^- ft. high, with a stout, 

 half-shrubby, slightly-branching stem, and large, dark- 



