94 THE TREE PROPAGATOR AND PLANTEB. 



The Thunbergia (Acanthacea). 



The name of a man. This is no doubt one of the 

 most beautiful tribes of dwarf climbing plants we possess. 

 I know of no class of dwarf climbers more beautiful 

 when well grown. Some object to them on account of 

 their being subject to the red spider, but I was never 

 much troubled in this way in growing Thunbergias. 

 They possess every shade of rich colour from white to 

 blue. Aurantiaca is orange ; Alata yellow; Alba white; 

 Chrysops blue ; Coccinea scarlet. 



They may be propagated by seed sown in the spring, 

 in pots of maiden loam, dung, and leaf-mould. Bury 

 the seed half an inch, and set the pots containing it in 

 a brisk bottom heat ; pot off soon, and grow fast, fre- 

 quently syringing them. Train the plants on trellises, 

 and give abundance of water, with a weekly watering 

 of liquid manure. Cuttings may be easily struck from 

 the side-shoots, inserted in pots filled with peat soil, 

 and set in heat. They require a warm house through 

 the winter. 



The Plumbago {Plumbaginacecs). 



These are not proper climbers, but as P. capensis is 

 well adapted for covering a trellis, I have ventured to 

 bring it in under this head. This variety has trusses 

 of beautiful light blue flowers at the end of every young 

 growth. The plant is wood, and of moderately fast 

 growth during the summer, or in a warm greenhouse. 

 It answers well for training at the back of a conserva- 

 tory to cover the walls, or on a pillar, or in a 7 or 8- 

 inch pot, grown in peat and maiden loam. Frequently 

 stopped when young, it soon makes a fine specimen. 



The propagation of this species is by cuttings of the 

 short side-shoots half ripe, inserted in sandy peat, and 

 plunged in a very mild heat. The herbaceous kinds 

 are propagated by division of the root as well as by 

 cuttings. The old wood will strike root in a very sandy 

 soil, and if covered with a glass. 



