PROPAGATION BY LEAVES. 269 



young bulbs were formed on the edge of the cut above ground as well as below. 

 I tried cuttings of the stem of some species of Lilium, and obtained bulbs at 

 the axil of the leaf, as well as from the scales of the bulb ; and that practice 

 lias been since much resorted to by gardeners, though I believe it originated 

 with me. I raised a great number of bulbs of the little plant which has 

 been successively called massonia, scilla, and hyacinthus corymbosus, by 

 setting a pot full of its leaves, and placing a bell-glass over them for a short 

 time. A bulb was obtained with equal facility from a leaf of a rare species 

 of Eucomis ; and experiments with the leaves of Lachenalias were equally 

 successful. I apprehend that all liliaceous bulbs may be thus propagated ; 

 but the more fleshy the leaf, the more easily the object will be attained." 

 (Gard. Chron., for 1841, p. 381.) 



014. Rooting leaves and parts of leaves in powdered charcoal. Leaves and 

 parts of leaves of the following plants were rooted in charcoal, by M. Lucas, 

 of Munich, in 1389. Half-leaves of Piereskm, Polianthes mexicana Zuccar., 

 and leaves of Euphorbia fastuosa, in a short time filled their pots so full of 

 roots that they were obliged to be repotted. 



In from eight to fourteen days leaves of Cecropia palmata, O'xalis mandi- 

 occdna, O. purpfrrea, Euphorbia fastuosa, Cyclamen indicum, Lophospermum 

 scandens, Martyna craniolaria, Begonia monoptera, B. bulbifera, Ipomoe'a 

 superba, I. spec, e Corcovado, Mesembryanthemum tigrinum, Gesnem 

 latifolia, G. atrasanguinea, Sinningia guttata, Piper piereski/0/iwm, all sorts 

 of Gloxinia, even calices and mere flower-stems, pieces of leaves of Convol- 

 vulus Batatas, Peireskia grandifolia, Polianthes mexicana, and warts of the 

 large- warted mammillaria. 



In three weeks the tops of the leaves of Agave americana fol. var., leaves 

 of Jacardnda brasiliensis, bundles of leaves of Pinus excelsa, leaves of 

 Mimosa Houstom, and Cyperus vaginatus. 



In five weeks, whole and half -cut folioles of Encephalartos caffer and 

 Zamia integrifolia produced a number of roots from the surface of the cuts. 



Many leaves have not yet made roots, but for a considerable time have 

 formed callosities; such as jLaurus nitida, Bignonia Telfairi^, Carolines 

 prin-ceps, Ardfsise, Gardenia, Adansonm digitata, Draese'na, &c. As expe- 

 riments that did not succeed, we may mention portions of the leaves of 

 Amaryllis and Crinuni, of ferns, of tropical Orchldeae, of Dasylirion and 

 Hecht/a, Tillandsia, Panddnus, Phormium tenax, of tropical tuberous- 

 rooted ^roldeae, old leaves of the Agave, and some others which, partly 

 through roit ting by wet, or other mischances, were prevented from growing. 



015. Leaves with the buds in the axils root freely in the case of many 

 species. The buds and leaves are cut out with a small portion of the bark 

 and alburnum to each, and planted in sandy loam, so deep as just to cover 

 the bud ; the soil being pressed firmly against it, and the back of the leaf 

 resting on the surface of the soil. Covered with a bell-glass and placed 

 on heat, in a short time the buds break through the surface of the soil, 

 and elongate into sho6*ts. The late Mr. Knight tried this mode with 

 double camellias, magnolias, metrosideros, acacias, neriums, rhododendrons, 

 and many others, some of which rooted and made shoots the same season, 

 and others riot till the following spring. 



610. Immature fruits have even been made to produce plants. M. Thouin 

 planted fruits of the Opuntia Tuna, which were about three fourths ripe, 

 with their peduncles entire, in pots of sand almost dry, and covered them 



