THE WALLFLOWER AND CABBAGE FAMILY. 209 



All the Bignonias and Tecomas are readily increased by grafting, 

 or by cuttings of their own roots. Bignonia grandiflora (see ' Bot. 

 Mag.,' t. 1398) is a noble plant, bearing large trusses of glowing 

 orange-scarlet flowers. This species, B. venusta, and several 

 other kinds which require a warm greenhouse temperature, 

 may be propagated by grafting on roots of B. radicans or B. 

 capreolata. This operation should be performed in a close 

 heated case. Bignonias and Tecomas are so handsome 'that 

 it is a wonder they have escaped the magical touch of the 

 hybridiser, to whom we must look for varieties of dwarfer 

 habit and more floriferous character. Grafting may possibly 

 be found to improve some of the rampant-growing species if a 

 weak or moderate-habited kind be selected as a stock; and 

 the success of this operation will also indicate the affinity 

 necessary to insure good results from hybridising. B. grandi- 

 flora, var. rubra, is a seedling raised by M. Sahut of Mont- 

 pelier, its presumed parents being B. grandiflora and B. atro- 

 purpurea. It is one of the finest of all the Bignonias, and B. 

 atropurpurea was the seed-parent. 



THE WALLFLOWER AND CABBAGE FAMILY (Brassicacece). 



This is a large and very natural group of plants, repre- 

 sented in our gardens by innumerable forms of the com- 

 mon wild Cabbage {Brassica oleracea), Radish (Raphanus 

 sativus), Turnip (Brassica napa), to say nothing of showy 

 herbaceous plants and alpines. There are few natural orders 

 which produce fertile seeds so universally as these, and nearly 

 all the species may be most readily increased from seeds 

 sown either in the autumn as soon as they are ripe, or in the 

 spring. Cuttings of most of the species root freely if covered 

 with a hand-light or cloche, or inserted in pots and placed in 

 a close frame. The following are among the best-known 

 genera : Matlhiola (Stocks), Cheiranthns (Wallflowers), 

 Nasturtium (Water - cress), Arabis, Cardamine, Lunaria 

 (Honesty), Alyssum, Aubrietia, Draba, Cochlearia, Thlaspi, 

 Iberis, Anastatica (Rose of Jericho), Sisymbrium, Capsella, 

 lonopsidium, Lepidium, sEthionema, Brassica, Cr^w^(Seakale), 

 Raphanus, and Schizopetalon. All the cultural forms of 

 Brassica such as the Cabbage, Colewort, Savoy, Brussels 

 Sprout, Cauliflower or Broccoli, and Kales of all kinds are 

 extremely susceptible of cross-fertilisation ; and it is next to 

 impossible to secure a pure strain of any variety unless it is 

 isolated from all the other individuals of its species. To keep 



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