THE MYRTLE FAMILY. 399 



things favoured by the system of propagating them by suckers 

 or offsets in cultivation. 



Strelitzia. A small genus of gorgeous orange and purple 

 or white-flowered Musads from the Cape, and represented in 

 our gardens by S. regincE, S. juncea \S. parvifolia), and S. 

 humilis. The flowers remind one of those of Irids, and con- 

 sist of six segments, the three outer (sepals) usually of a bril- 

 liant orange colour (white in 6". augusta), while the three inner 

 ones are unequal, the two lower ones united, forming an arrow- 

 head-like hood, of a rich purple colour, and concealing in a slit or 

 fold the five perfect stamens and an imperfect one. The three- 

 celled capsule contains numerous seeds, each having an orange- 

 coloured tuft of hairs. These fine flowering and foliage plants 

 are much hardier than is generally supposed, and well deserve 

 more general culture. Numerous beautiful seminal varieties, 

 which, if not actually true hybrids, are of equal practical im- 

 portance, have been raised in Belgian gardens (see ' Ann. de la 

 Soc. d' Agriculture et Bot. de Gand,' t. i. p. 419). The Belgian 

 varieties are : S. aurora, S. imperialis, S. rutilans, S. citrina, 

 S. vitrea, and others ; and these have been raised from seeds 

 of the well-known S. regince fertilised with pollen of 6". angusti- 

 folia, S. juncea, and S. humilis. The pollen of these plants is 

 well worth examination, being spherical, and having a hard 

 thick outer membrane, finely punctate or pitted, and scarcely 

 separable from the internal coat. 



THE MYRTLE FAMILY (Myrtacecz). 



A group of trees and shrubs, mostly evergreen, and repre- 

 sented in our gardens by different species of Eucalyptus, Calli- 

 stemon, Metrosideros, Leptospermum, Babingtonia, Punica (Pome- 

 granate), Psidium (Guava), Pimenta (Allspice), Myrtus (Myr- 

 tle), Caryophyllus (Clove), Eugenia, Jambosa (Rose-apples), and 

 several other genera. Nearly all the plants in this group are 

 natives of hot countries, and abundant in the tropics. New 

 Holland and. the South Sea Islands contain genera peculiar to 

 their shores, while the most northern species is the Common 

 Myrtle {Myrtus communis}, which, although originally a native 

 of Persia, is now abundantly naturalised in Europe. Aromatic 

 properties characterise the order; while some genera, as Psidium, 

 Jambosa, and Eugenia, produce edible fruits, even in cultiva- 

 tion. Most of the species are evergreen. Seeds germinate 

 freely in a bottom-heat of 70 to 85, and cuttings of the young 

 growth root freely in a warm plant-case or frame. It does not* 



