Solatium. 193 



but the mauve-coloured flowers are borne abundantly in 

 clusters, each containing 20 or more blooms : the stamens, 

 being of an orange colour, add to the effect. There are 

 a dozen or more species that flower freely but have little 

 beauty of leaf : among the best of these is £. Rantonncttii, 

 which has very pretty dark-purple flowers, more than an 

 inch across, with an orange centre. It forms a neat bush, 

 and flowers freely in the southern counties, in warm 

 sunny spots and on light soils. Mexico. 



Solarium macranthum. — A fine species from Brazil, 

 confessedly one of the best kinds in cultivation, and some- 

 what resembling Polymnia grandis. It grows nearly 

 7 ft. high in one year, with a stout, simple, spiny stem of 

 a deep shining green with grayish spots, and sparsely 

 armed with very strong shortish spines. The leaves are 

 elegant and deeply cut, some of them over 2\ ft. long, 

 falling gracefully earthwards, of a light green on the upper 

 surface, with red veinings, the under side having a reddish 

 hue. The flowers, seldom seen with us, are of a fine 

 violet colour, and grow in corymbs. It will not attain 

 its full character and large dimensions in cold places, and 

 should therefore have as warm positions as possible. 

 Increased by cuttings struck in February : they are fit to 

 plant out in May. 



Solarium marginatum.— A vigorous-growing, erect, 

 branching and bushy species from Abyssinia, 3 ft., or 

 more, in height. The leaves are somewhat oval, with 

 a bluntly sinuated margin ; the upper surface smooth, of 

 a brilliant green with a white silvery border, and the 

 under side covered with a white satiny down. The 

 flowers are white, with orange stamens, pendulous, very 



o 



