GREENHOUSE AND STOVE BULBS 91 



ALOCASIAS 



These magnificent stove plants are much admired 

 for their handsome, often variegated, leaves, and for 

 their striking appearance. They like a compost of 

 sandy loam and fibrous peat in lumps, with some 

 sphagnum and small pieces of charcoal, keeping the 

 soil and bulbs a little above the top of the pots, with 

 a surfacing of cocoa-fibre or sphagnum. The pots 

 can hardly be over-drained, and from a half to two- 

 thirds full of broken crocks is a good proportion of 

 drainage. They require a moist atmosphere and plenty 

 of water while growing ; a summer temperature of 

 seventy-five to eighty-five degrees and a winter one of 

 sixty to sixty-five degrees are suitable. A little liquid 

 manure may be given at intervals. They are increased 

 by division of the stem or rhizome, or by seeds. The 

 following selection comprises some of the finest grown : 

 Chelsonii, cuprea, metallica, hybrida, Jenningsii, 

 Johnstoni, macrorhiza variegata, scabriuscula, Sedenii, 

 thibautiana, and zebrina. 



AMORPHOPHALLUSES 



These are singular stove plants, allied to the Arums, 

 but of most value for sub-tropical bedding. They must 

 be kept dry and in a warm place in winter, and started 

 in a moist atmosphere and a temperature of from fifty- 

 five to seventy degrees. They are never likely to become 

 popular for ordinary gardens, so that details would be 

 unnecessary here. Campanulatus, Lacouri, Rivieri, and 

 Titanum are the best known species. 



ARIS^MAS 



These singular, but not showy plants, require some- 

 what similar cultivation to the Arums, and may be 



