Stove and Greenhouse Plants and Flowers 



127 



and its slender variety yracillima, A. Chabrieri, A. Kerchoveana, and 

 A t leptophylla. These are all natives of New Caledonia and the South 

 Sea Islands, and flourish in sandy loam, peat, and leaf mould, in a warm, 

 moist atmosphere. The leaves being deeply divided and graceful form 

 the chief attraction of these plants, which are usually raised from cuttings 

 in cases, and by means of grafting. 



The plant known as Aralia Sieboldi or Fatsia japonica is a Japanese 

 plant, quite hardy in the milder parts of the United Kingdom, where it 

 becomes a large and ornamental shrub. As a pot plant it is raised in 

 thousands every year under glass from seeds, and is sold in 2J-in. to 5-in. 

 pots, fetching from 6s. to 9s. per dozen in the latter size. The seeds are 

 usually sown in shallow boxes or in beds in sandy loarn and leaf soil in 

 a temperature of 65 to 75 F., the seedlings beings afterwards potted up 

 singly and grown on in various sizes according to the object in view. There 

 are several attractive forms, 

 variegated or blotched with t 



o 



gold or silver, but the green- 

 leaved type and one called 

 Moseri are the most popular for 

 market work, and the trade is 

 continuous. Tall plants may 

 have the heads taken off as cut- 

 tings if necessary. 



Arauearia excelsa (NORFOLK 

 ISLAN T D PINE). This is certainly 

 the most graceful of all the 

 Araucarias, and although it 

 attains a height of 100 ft. and 

 more in its native habitat, it is 

 admirably adapted for pot cul- 

 ture in a small state, and thou- 

 sands are now grown every 

 year in 5-in. and 6-in. pots, and 

 even in larger sizes. The plants 

 thrive in a fibrous yellow loam 

 with a sprinkling of sand and 

 some leaf mould, and require 

 only a greenhouse temperature 

 when established. They are Fi &- ^.-Araueana exceisa 



raised from cuttings having 



about two whorls of branches. These are inserted in rich gritty soil with 

 bottom heat and are kept close and somewhat shaded till rooted, after 

 which they are potted up singly and grown on for sale. Plants in 5-in. 

 pots realize from 18s. to 21s. There are now varieties of golden hue, and 

 also one called " Silver Star " with silvery-tipped branchlets (fig. 260). 

 Ardisia crenulata. A pretty evergreen West Indian plant likely to 



