AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



179 



Impatiens continued. 



discharge the seeds when ripe). Balsam. STN. Balsa- 

 mina. OED. Geraniacece. A genus comprising about 135 

 species of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, annual or biennial 

 herbs, sometimes suffrutescent, natives, for the most 

 part, of the mountains of tropical Asia and Africa, rare 

 in Europe, North America, North Asia, and South Africa. 

 Flowers purple, yellow, pink, or white, often showy; pe- 

 duncles axillary; petals four, cruciate; two outer ones 

 alternating with the sepals, upper one arched and emar- 

 ginate, lower one drawn out into a spur at the base; 

 branches many-flowered. Leaves alternate, very rarely 

 opposite. Comparatively few of the species are now in 

 cultivation. The hardy annual kinds may be readily raised 

 from seed, in spring, and they succeed in any ordinary 

 light soil. The stove and greenhouse species may be pro- 



Impatiens continued. 



in a moist stove until beginning to flower, when a cooler 

 and drier position will be more suitable. Towards 

 November, the leaves will drop, and the stems become 

 swollen, thus indicating their ripening off. The plants 

 should then be removed, and suspended near the glass 

 in a house where there is a temperature of about 55deg., 

 and a rather dry atmosphere maintained. Here they 

 should be allowed to remain quite dormant, until starting 

 time in April, the following year. 



I. amphorata (pitcher-like).* fl. pale purple, suffused and 

 speckled with rose-red, liin. long; sepals greenish, broadly 

 orbicular-cordate, acute ; standard orbicular, notched at top, 

 spurred behind; lip cylindri-saccate, tip rounded with a short 

 red incurved spur in. long ; lateral lobe rounded, terminal, 

 pendulous, obtuse ; racemes 2m. to 5in. long, many-flowered 

 August and September. L bright green, often with pink edges 



FlG. 284. IMANTOPHYLLUM 



pagated from cuttings ; or from seeds, when these are to 

 be obtained. Cuttings generally root freely in a close 

 frame. I. Sultani is one of the most beautiful and easily 

 grown plants in cultivation. It succeeds well in a green- 

 house throughout the summer, but requires an inter- 

 mediate or warm structure in winter. If cuttings are 

 taken from strong, healthy shoots, they root quickly in 

 a propagating frame, at almost any season. They are 

 best inserted singly in small pots, and afterwards kept 

 somewhat restricted at the root, by only allowing very 

 moderate shifts. Useful decorative plants may be grown 

 in Sin. or 6in. pots, and they usually succeed better in 

 these than in larger sizes. A rich, open soil should be 

 used. This species is comparatively new, and has been 

 recommended for summer bedding outside ; but it has 

 hitherto been tried without much success. I. flaccida 

 alba is very useful ; it succeeds under the same treatment 

 as I. Sultani. I. Jerdonice is a dwarf species, and requires 

 special treatment. It should be placed in a basket, about 

 April, in a compost of peat and loam, and be suspended 



and midrib, Sin. to 6in. long, petioled, elliptic-ovate or lanceolate, 

 acuminate, finely crenate-serrate. Stem succulent, branched up- 

 wards, h. 3ft. to 6ft. Western Himalayas. A handsome hardy 

 annual. (B. M. 6550.) 



I. BfliMTinlTin. (Balsam).* Common Balsam, fl. red; pedi- 

 cels aggregate. Summer. I. lanceolate, serrated; lower ones 

 opposite, h. 1ft. to 2ft. Tropical Asia, 1596. A well-known 

 annual. SYN. Balsamina hortensis. See Fig. 286. For general 

 cultivation, see Balsam. 



I. B. coccinea (scarlet), fl. red ; spur incurved, as long as the 

 flower. June to September. I. alternate, oblong-oval, serrated ; 

 leafstalks with many glands. A. 2ft. East Indies, 1808. Stove 

 annual. (B. M. 1256.) 



I. bicolor (two-coloured). /., lateral sepals green, small ; vexil- 

 lum white, green at back, very convex ; labeUum purple, ample, 

 with a long, curved, obtuse tail ; mouth pure white ; pedicels 

 slender, glabrous, about 2in. long, generally aggregate. December. 

 I. alternate, glabrous, Sin. to Sin. or more long, elliptic-ovate, 

 acuminate, attenuated towards the base, coarsely serrated. 

 Stem purplish-green, woody at base, herbaceous above. Fer- 

 nando Po, 1862. Stove perennial. (B. M. 5366.) 



L Candida (white), fl. white, slightly speckled with crimson, 

 large, showy. Autumn. 1. narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, with 

 crimson serration, in whorls of three, h. 6ft. Himalayas, 1839. 

 Hardy annual. (B. E. 1841, 20.) 



