NEPENTHES 



NEPENTHES 



2125 



orchids, while the climatic conditions of America, when 

 modified by moist stovehduse treatment, seem emi- 

 nently to favor vigorous growth. They have therefore 

 become familiar objects in many American greenhouse 

 collections during the past decade. 



All of the species now in cultivation hybridize readily 

 with each other, and produce abundant as well as good 

 seeds. These should be sown on the surface of a seed- 

 pan that is filled with a finely chopped mixture of 

 sphagnum, pot crocks and charcoal. A bell-jar should 

 cover the pan, and it should then be set in a plate of 

 water to ensure a steamy atmosphere. Germination 

 occurs in two to four weeks. The seedlings should be 

 potted off into thumbs when about a month old, and 

 then changed every two months into larger pots. Well- 

 grown year-old plants begin to show adult characters. 



Nepenthes culture. (G. W. Oliver.) 



Nepenthes are increased by cuttings and by seeds. 

 The ripened shoots, with four or five leaves attached, 

 make the best cuttings. They may be rooted from 

 December till the end of January, but under proper 

 conditions the operation may be performed at any time 

 during the year. Some of the free-rooting kinds, such 

 as N. Dominii, N. gracilis, N. Phyllamphora and N. 

 Mastersiana, may be rooted in sand under a glass with 

 a little moss tied around the base of each cutting. 

 Under this treatment the temperature of the sand should 

 be about 80 F. When the roots show through the moss 

 they should be put in small pots and kept close for a 

 couple of weeks. The most satisfactory method of 

 propagation is to put the base of each cutting through 

 the hole of an inverted 2-inch rose pot, plunging the pot 

 in sphagnum moss in a temperature from 80 to 90. 

 F. (See Fig. 2460.) During the operation of rooting 

 they must be kept in a close propagating-frame and 

 frequently syringed. (See Fig. 2461.) When the roots are 

 about % inch long the cuttings should be potted, using 

 a mixture of finely chopped fibrous peat, moss and sand, 

 with a little finely broken charcoal added. They should 

 be replaced in the moss and kept close until the pots 

 are fairly well filled with roots and then gradually 

 hardened off. All of the kinds do best suspended from 

 the roof of a hothouse, the temperature of which should 

 not fall below 65 F. in winter. The plants may be 

 grown either in orchid-pots or -baskets. In potting or 

 basketing plants from 4-inch pots, large pieces of pot- 

 sherd and charcoal should be firmly placed here and 

 there among the potting material, which should con- 

 sist of rough fibrous peat, moss and sand. The plants 

 should not be allowed to grow as vines unless they are 

 intended to produce seed. When large-sized pitchers 

 are wanted, the ends of the shoots should be nipped 

 out after several leaves have been made and the pitchers 

 are in the process of development; this throws strength 

 into the last-formed leaves and produces very large 

 pitchers. When the plants are in active growth they 

 should be well drenched with water at least once each 

 day and syringed frequently, but care should be taken 

 not to overwater newly potted specimens. They should 

 at all times be shaded from bright sunshine, and when a 

 house is devoted to them, or partly occupied with plants 

 requiring similar treatment, it should be shaded with 

 cloth fixed to rollers. Well-pitchered plants may be 

 taken from the growing house and exhibited in good 

 presentation for a long time in a house under condi- 

 tions which would be unfavorable for their growth. All 

 of the hybrid forms are of easy culture. N. Mastersiana, 

 N, Dominii, N. Outramiana and A^. Henryana produce 

 pitchers very freely. The species, as a rule, are not 

 quite so free, but some of them thrive equally as well 

 as the garden forms. N, Rajah, N. Northiana, N. 

 sanguinea, N. albo-marginata and N. bicalcarata are 

 all more or less difficult to manage, as the conditions 

 under which they grow in their native haunts are 

 sometimes not easily imitated. N. ampullaria, N. 



Rafflesiana, N. Phyllamphora, N. distillatoria and N . 

 Kennedyana are usually seen well furnished with good 

 pitchers. 



alata, 40. 

 albo-cincta, 2. 

 albo-marginata, 2. 

 amabilis, 23. 

 Amesiana, 23. 

 ampullaria, 1. 

 atrosanguinea, 21. 

 Balfouriana, 49. 

 bicalcarata, 38. 

 Burkei, 11. 

 celebica, 47. 

 Chelsonii, 28. 

 cincta, 3. 

 coccinea, 34. 

 Curtisii, 47. 

 cylindrica, 18. 

 picksoniana, 31. 

 distillatoria, 16. 

 Dominii, 22. 

 Dormanniana, 19. 

 Dyak, 38. 

 Dyeriana, 43. 

 cdinensis, 32. 

 Edwardsiana, 9. 

 excellens, 11, 28. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



A. Pitcher-lid small, re flexed 1. 



AA. Pitcher-lid well developed, inflexed 



over orifice. 

 B. Lid devoid of keel, spur, or bristles 



within, 

 c. Longitudinal veins of lamina 



2-4: Ivs. sessile. 

 D. Collar below peristome white- 



tomentose 2. 



DD. Collar below peristome brown- 

 ish tomentose. 

 E. Lvs. decurrent. 



F. Peristome broadly ex- 

 panded, purplish green 



or purple striped 3. 



FF. Peristome expanded, green 



and red-striped 4. 



FFF. Peristome expanded, pur- 

 ple 5. 



EE. Lvs. non-decurrent. 



F. Peristome red 6. 



FF. Peristome crimson to pur- 

 ple 7. 



cc. Longitudinal veins of lamina 



2-4: Ivs. stalked. 

 D. Peristome deeply ridged; 



pitchers pyriform 8. 



DD. Peristome deeply ridged; 



pitchers elongate-tubular .... 9. 

 ccc. Longitudinal veins of lamina 

 5-6: Ivs. sessile, non-decurrent. 

 D. Pitchers strongly constricted in 



middle, mouth transverse .... 10. 

 DD. Pitchers strongly constricted in 



middle, mouth oblique 11. 



ODD. Pitchers large, oval 12. 



cccc. Longitudinal veins of lamina 



5-6: Ivs. sessile, decurrent. 

 D. St. slender trigonous: peri- 

 stome narrow-oblique 13. 



DD. St. stout cylindric: peristome 



rounded, oblique 14. 



ODD. St. stout cylindric: peristome 



elevated into short neck 15. 



ccccc. Longitudinal veins of lamina 



5-6: Ivs. petiolate. 

 D. Pitchers green, reddish or 



slightly purple-spotted. 

 E. Lvs. herbaceous^: peristome 



green, cylindric 16. 



EE. Lvs. coriaceous: peristome 



green, cylindric 17. 



EEE. Lvs. coriaceous: peristome 



expanded 18. 



DD. Pitchers richly green and pur- 

 ple-blotched; peristome pale 

 green, oblique. 



ampullaria 



albomargi- 



[nata 



cincta 



Northiana 



mixta 



sanguinea 



Mastersiana 



villosa 

 Edwardsiana 



ventricosa 



Burkei 

 Merrilliana 



gracilis 



khasiana 



Sedenii 



distillatoria 



hybrida 



cylindrica 



