Encyclopaedia of Gardening 261 



Platystemon californicus (platyste-mon, from platys, broad, and 

 stemon, a stamen. Ord. Papaveraceae) . A pretty, hardy, Poppy- 

 like annual, about i ft. high, with yellow flowers in summer. For 

 culture, see Annuals. 



Pleione (Indian Crocus. Ord. Orchidaceae) . Pretty dwarf 

 Orchids, with flowers on short stems. They form pseudo-bulbs 

 annually, and are therefore herbaceous plants. They do well in 

 pans partly filled with crocks, the roots packed in a mixture of 

 fibrous peat and Sphagnum moss, with sand. Repot after flower- 

 ing, at which time division may be practised. A good deal of water 

 is required when the plants are in full growth, but the supply should 

 be reduced when the plants begin to wither, and withheld altogether 

 in winter. They should be grown in an intermediate house. The 

 principal species is lagenaria, various colours, flowering in whiter. 

 Maculata, purple and white, autumn bloomer, is also grown. 



Pleroma (plero-ma, from pleroma, fullness. Ord. Melastomaceae) . 

 Evergreen shrubs, which thrive in an intermediate house in a 

 compost of equal parts peat and loam, with a quarter part of sand. 

 Propagation is by cuttings in a propagating case. Elegans, with 

 blue flowers in summer, is now called Tibouchina elegans by 

 botanists. Macranthum (syn. Tibouchina semidecandra) , with 

 violet flowers, is also good (see the Botanical Magazine, t. 5721). 



Plum. See Fruit. 



Plumbago, Leadwort (plumba-go, from plumbum, lead ; used in eye 

 troubles. Ord. Plumbagineae) . Pretty plants, some evergreen, 

 others herbaceous, some hardy, others needing a greenhouse or hot- 

 house. The hardy sorts are not fastidious as to soil. Loam, with 

 sand and a third of leaf mould, will suit the tender kinds. The 

 herbaceous species may be propagated by division in spring, the 

 shrubs by cuttings in a propagating case in spring. Capensis 

 (Botanical Magazine, t. 2110), with blue flowers in summer and 

 autumn, is a great favourite; it is sometimes planted out to ramble 

 up a pillar or on a greenhouse roof, in other cases grown in pots and 

 trained on a balloon-shaped wire trellis. After flowering it should 

 be pruned back annually to the old wood; there is a white variety, 

 alba. Rosea (Bot. Mag., t. 230) and its variety superba, which 

 have rosy flowers in winter and spring in a warm greenhouse, can be 

 made into neat bushes if raised from cuttings, pinched and re- 

 pinched. Larpentae, blue; and micrantha, white, are both hardy 

 herbaceous species and flower in summer. 



Podophyllum (podophy Hum, from anapodophyllum, leaf like a 

 duck's foot. Ord. Berberideae) . Two species of Duck's-foot are 

 grown, viz. Emodi and peltatum. The former is remarkable for 

 its large, reddish, egg-shaped fruits, which are borne in late summer. 

 They are hardy herbaceous perennials, suitable for the rock garden, 

 and are propagated by division in spring. 



Poet's Narcissus. See Bulbs. 



Poinsettia (poinsett-ia, after M. Poinsette. Ord. Euphorbiaceae) . 

 A brilliant plant, the carmine bracts of which do duty for flowers, 



