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GENERAL REVIEW OF SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR 

 GROUPS OF CULTIVATED PLANTS, WITH NOTES ON 

 THEIR PROPAGATION AND NATURAL AFFINITIES. 



THE ACANTHUS FAMILY (Acanthacece). 



A group of herbaceous plants or shrubs, chiefly natives of 

 warm countries, and represented in our gardens by species of 

 Thunbergia, Meyenia, Hexacentris, Gymnostachyum, Ruellia, 

 Goldfussia, Strobilanthes, Acanthus, Aphelandra, Thyrsacanthus, 

 Graptophyllum, Cyrtanthera, Sericogr aphis, Justicia, Eranthe- 

 mum, Libonia, and others scarcely less beautiful. Nearly all 

 the hard-wooded species are easily propagated by inserting 

 cuttings of the partially-hardened young growth in heat ; and 

 owing to the erect and branchless character of their growth, 

 many species of Justicia, Aphelandra, Thyrsacanthus, Grapto- 

 phyllum, &c., are best struck afresh every autumn or spring, 

 otherwise the plants get leggy and unmanageable. Aphelandra 

 aurantiaca, and its brilliant scarlet form A. Roezlii, are best 

 propagated by seeds sown on a pan of light sandy soil as soon 

 as ripe, and placed on a genial bottom-heat of 70 to 75. 

 Seeds are freely produced by many species ; and in order 

 to facilitate their production, artificial fertilisation is to be 

 recommended. The Grecian and South European forms of 

 Acanthus, remarkable for their glossy and handsome foliage, 

 are propagated either by seeds, root-cuttings, or division. The 

 pollen-grains of some Acanthads are very beautifully tuberculate, 

 and look like burnished nuggets of fine gold when seen under a 

 high magnifier. 



Acanthus. This is a noble family of plants, some of the 

 species being found in most gardens, where they are grown for 

 the sake of their massive, glossy green, and picturesquely-cut 

 foliage. A. spinosus and A. mollis are natives of the south of 

 Europe ; and a tuft of the first-named species accidentally 

 growing around a vase is said to have given Callimachus the 



