1 86 HOUSE PLANTS 



that the young leaves will not be injured, 

 or in August. 



The aspidistra has no stem, the leaves 

 coming directly from the rootstock or rhi- 

 zome. The leaves are from fifteen inches to 

 two feet long. The leaf stem is about one- 

 eighth to one-quarter of an inch in diameter 

 and wiry, and about one-quarter the length 

 of the whole leaf. The blade is from three 

 to five inches wide and very dark green in 

 colour. There is a variegated form of this 

 having white stripes in the leaves. These 

 are, however, almost lost if the plant makes 

 a rapid growth, and in no two leaves on the 

 same plant are they exactly the same. 



An almost equally tough plant is the New 

 Zealand hemp {Sai^seviera Zelanica). Like 

 the aspidistra, the leaves come directly 

 from the rhizome, the plant having no stem. 

 All the leaves stand up straight like so many 

 sticks, are from one to three feet tall and 

 concave. It is attractive only for its colour 

 which is light green with many transverse 

 markings of a grayish white. There are two 

 others, Sansevtera Guineensi and cylin- 

 drica^ in cultivation, but are only infre- 

 quently met. In the former, the leaves 



