CULTURE OF FAVORITE PLANTS. 





growth is readily appropriated by this thirsty phint, which also revels in a warm atmos- 

 phere. It is usually propagated by florists from sections of the root, as already described 

 under Bouvardia and elsewhere. It may, however, be rooted from small offshoots that 

 grow on the side of the stem; and also from seeds, but this last method is rarely followed. 



^.." 



EC HE \^:EIt IJl 



ELONGING to the class of plants known as Houseleeks, which 

 are often carefully grown on the roofs of cottages and stables by 

 many of the peasantry of Europe, under a superstitious belief that 

 they afford protection from lightning and other calamities, the 

 Echeverias are a very ornamental, thick, flesh-leaved tribe of culti- 

 vated plants. They are in demand for ornamental plants in houses, 

 vwork and on high, sandy ground; as also sometimes for low edgings of 

 nd walks. Some of them look not unlike old, rusty iron; others have 

 green leaves; and one variety, called the E. rotundifolia, or round-leaved, 

 an elegant vase plant to surmount a pillar or parlor-stand. Being of the 

 isiest culture, almost anyone can cultivate them in nearly every condition of 

 soil or climate; but an excess of water in cold weather will prove fatal. Some of the 

 species flourish through the winter, sending out spike-like racemes, two or three feet in 

 length, of a very waxy, flesh-colored appearance, which remain a long time on the stems. 

 Other low-growing species have bright yellow flowers, after the manner of the Mossy 

 Sedum or Wall-Pepper. They luxuriate in a loose, sandy soil, containing some leaf-mold, 

 and though not dependent on a rigid regularity in the water supply, they should not be 

 entirely neglected during the growing season. Side-shoots, or even the flower-stems, can 

 be made the means of propagation, being set in clean sand and sparingly watered until 

 rooted. 





E E Y T E R T^^Jl . 



I'DDY is the meaning of the botanic name, derived from the Greek, 



le plant belongs to the widely-extended Pulse family, having, 



common with most of the allied genera, a butterfly-shaped flower. 



P-jP^Vg)/-;^ There are several thousand species of the Pulse family — nine thou- 



'-«:^^N^'^" V^ sand, some one has computed — scattered throughout the world, and 



^ ' for the most part they are of the highest utility in the animal economy 



of the universe. Containing a relatively large proportion of nitrogenous and 



bone building material, they are extensiveh- used everywhere as food for man 



and beast, but nowhere as much used by human beings as would be for their 



well-being. The elegant Erythrina, sometimes called Coral Plant, ought 



to have a place in every outdoor collection; it is a fine object standing alone in a 



garden, its long racemes (often not less than two feet) of thick, waxv, coral-like 



