BUDS ON LEAVES. 



41 



by the succulent leaf for some time after its severance from the stem, so that it 

 is not necessary to place the leaf in communication with damp earth with a view 

 to its deriving the requisite water therefrom. They are thus exempted from 

 conditions to which the greater number of plants propagated by gardeners by 

 means of so-called leaf -cuttings are subject. 



This method of propagation by leaf -cuttings has long been recognized, and 

 has been particularly applied to Citron and Orange trees, as also to the Wax 



Fig. 200. Formation of Buds on Fronds and Foliage-leaves: 



2 on the pinnules of Asplenium bulbiferum ; * on the margins of the lobes of the leaves of Bryophyllum calicinum ; * on the 

 foliage-leaves of Cardamine pratensis ; 6 on the margin of foliage-leaves of Malaxis paludosa. Two buds on the margin 

 of a leaf of Malaxis paludosa. i, , *, 8 natural size ; * x 2 ; x 20. 



Flower (Hoya carnosa), to Theophrasta Jussieui, a plant belonging to the 

 Myrsinese, to the Aucuba Laurel (Aucuba Japonica), to the beautiful Clianthus 

 puniceus, and to various other plants besides. But it is only quite recently that 

 it has been practised on a vast scale, since the discovery that the Begonias, 

 introduced from the tropical parts of America and now so fashionable as orna- 

 mental foliage-plants, and the Gesneracese from Brazil with their splendid flowers, 

 are capable of being propagated with extreme facility and in immense numbers 

 by means of their leaves. The cultivator has only to pick one of the foliage- 

 leaves and place it in contact with moist sand or sandy soil, and in a short time 



