ACHIMENES 



ACHIMENES 



207 



105. Achimenes; tubers of 

 the coccinea section. 



described further on seem to have contributed most 

 largely to the present garden forms. Some of the best 

 species are A. longiflora, purplish blue; A. longiflora 

 var. alba maxima, the best white kind; A. patens var. 

 major, a large flower of purplish rose; A. pedunculata, 

 orange; A. heterophylla, tubular, a fiery orange at one 

 end and blazing yellow at the other. There are many 

 named varieties, some of the names being Latin in 

 form. In the grandiflora 

 group the tubers or bulbs 

 are clustered; in the longi- 

 flora group the tubers are 

 pear-shaped bodies, growing 

 on the ends of root-like 

 rhizomes. The coccinea 

 (Fig. 105) and hirsuta 

 groups are late bloomers. 



The rhizomes of achi- 

 menes should be removed 

 from their winter quarters 

 and spread out thinly in 

 boxes, using a size some 3 

 inches deep, and a light 

 open mixture of leaf-mold 

 and sand to start them in. 

 The lower, inch in the box 

 should be covered with some 

 material that will act as 

 drainage; then cover with 

 an inch or so of the compost, 

 and spread out the rhizomes 

 on this and cover with half 

 an inch of the mixture which 

 has been passed through a half-inch mesh sieve. Place 

 in a moist house in a temperature of 60 to 65 F. and 

 water sparingly until the young growths appear. When 

 these are some 2 inches high, they should be lifted 

 from the boxes with the material that is attached to 

 the roots and potted up into 5- or 6-inch pots or 8-inch 

 pans, spacing them equally, and using some ten to 

 fifteen growths for each pot or pan. The material used 

 for this potting should be rich in humus and of a very 

 open porous nature, so as to provide free access of air 

 to the roots and at the same time allow any excess of 

 water to pass away freely. A useful mixture for this 

 purpose is equal parts of loam, leaf-mold and sand. 

 About one-third the depth of the pots or pans should 

 be occupied with drainage. All the rhizomatous forms 

 of achimcnes are shallow-rooting, so that there is no 

 advantage in using large and deep pots. This method 

 of stalling the rhizomes first and then potting those 

 that have been started together, is much to be prefer- 

 red to potting them up directly into the flowering 

 sizes, which method, however, is practised by many 

 cultivators. The advantage of the method advised is 

 that all the pots are filled regularly with growths of 

 equal size and vigor, whereas in the other and older 

 method the rhizomes often start irregularly and the 

 pots are only partially filled with growths. After pot- 

 ting up, the pots should be replaced again in the same 

 house as the rhizomes were started in, and kept shaded 

 from all hot sun. From this period onward, growth is 

 rapid and care must be taken not to allow any of them 

 to suffer for want of moisture at the roots, or failure 

 will ensue. When the plants are 6 or 8 inches high, 

 feeding with weak liquid manure should begin, and 

 should be continued regularly until the plants show 

 signs of exhaustion after flowering. When the flowers 

 appear, the plants should then be removed to a some- 

 what drier airy greenhouse, kept at a temperature of 

 about 50 F., where they will remain until the flower- 

 ing season is over. They may then be removed to a 

 greenhouse or coolframe to ripen up. The water-sup- 

 ply should be gradually reduced until the plants die 

 down. The best method of storing the rhizomes is to 

 shake entirely out of the old soil, mix them up in a box 



of sand, and keep them entirely dry in a shed which 

 does not fall below a temperature of 45 F. until the 

 time comes round for starting them again in March or 

 April. Propagation is readily effected by means of the 

 rhizomes. Each of these may be used for forming one 

 or many plants. Some of the kinds form numerous 

 scaly buds or short rhizomes in the axils of the upper 

 leaves; these may be saved and treated in exactly the 

 same way as the underground rhizomes for propaga- 

 tion. Cuttings of any of the sorts root readily in a 

 moist warmhouse in summer-time. Every node may 

 be used for stock and the parts may be inserted with- 

 out removing the leaves. All members of the genus, 

 including the numerous garden forms, are of the easiest 

 possible culture, and there are few greenhouse plants 

 that will furnish such a display of flowers at such a 

 little cost in time and attention. Some of the forms 

 of weak habit make charming subjects for growing as 

 basket plants. (C. P. Raffill.) 



A. Fls. colored, the lube usually not more than twice the 



length of the limb. 



B. Blossoms small, red, scarlet, or orange the limb narrow 



and sometimes not much spreading. 



ocellata, Hook. Rhizomes small and tuberous: st. 

 1-2 ft. : Ivs. rich green above and purple beneath, ovate, 

 strongly serrate, with conspicuous purplish petioles: 

 fls. small, 1 in. long, broad-tubed, spotted with black 

 and yellow, the lobes short and obtuse and well sepa- 

 rated, drooping on reddish peduncles. Panama. B.M. 

 4359. Fine for foliage. 



coccinea, Pers. Fig. 105. Height 1-2 ft.: st. reddish: 

 Ivs. 3-whorled or opposite, green, ovate-acuminate, 

 serrate: fls. small, scarlet, the corolla twice longer than 

 the erect lanceolate parted calyx on short peduncles. 

 Minute Ivs. often borne in the axils. Blooms late. 

 Jamaica. One of the older types. 



heterophylla, DC. (A. ignescens, Lem. A. Ghies- 

 brechtii, Hort.). Root fibrous: st. 1 ft. or less, dark pur- 

 ple, somewhat hairy: Ivs. ovate-acuminate, stalked, ser- 

 rate, the 2 of each pair usually unequal in size: fls. 

 solitary, on peduncles somewhat longer than the lf.- 

 stalks, long-tubular and slightly curved, with a narrow, 

 nearly equal flar- 

 ing limb, rich 

 scarlet, yellow 

 within. Mex. 

 B. M. 4871 

 This species has 

 tubers like those 

 of the grandi- 

 flora section. 



pedunculata, 

 Benth. Rhi- 

 zomes scaly: st. 

 \]/f-1 ft., hairy, 

 reddish, tuber- 

 bearing: Ivs. 

 opposite, small, 

 ovate, sharply 

 serrate, green, 

 hairy, on short 

 reddish stalks: 

 fls. medium size, 

 drooping and dilated upwards, yellow-red with dark 

 markings and a yellow throat, the limb comparatively 

 short; on long (4-5 in.) bracted sts. Guatemala. B.M. 

 4077. 



BB. Blossom large, with wide-flaring limb, mostly violet in 

 main color. 



longiflfira, DC. (A. Jaureguia, Warsez.). Fig. 106. 

 Rhizomes root-like and filiform, producing pear-shaped 

 tubers at their ends: st. 1-2 ft., hairy: lys. opposite or 

 3-4-whorled, ovate-oblong, serrate, hairy, paler and 



106. Achimenes longiflora. (XH) 



