Seed Room 



( 325 ) 



Selaginella 



SEED ROOM. 



It is a matter of great consequence that the 

 apartment in which seeds are kept until required 

 for sowing should be both suitable and conveniently 

 fitted up. The first essentials are that it should lie 



SELAGINELLA BUAUXII (seep. 326). 



perfectly dry, and capable of being properly aired. 

 A close, damp room causes either decay or pre- 

 mature germination. The room should be fitted 

 up with cases containing drawers and shelves, 

 and, for the preservation of some seeds, bottles 

 with air-tight capsules are very convenient. 



SEEMANNIA. 



Ternifolia, 3' to 4', winter, scarlet (jtyn. silvatica), 

 the principal species, is an interesting stove per- 

 ennial (prd. Gesneracese), closely related to 

 Acliimenes and Isoloma. Propagation, by seeds, 

 sown in pots of fibrous loam or leaf soil, with 

 sand and peat, and put in a temperature of about 

 70 ; or by division of the creeping rhizome. Soil, 

 loam, sand, and peat. 



SELAGINELLA. 



Description. Upwards of 300 species are in- 

 eluded in this large and important genus (prd, 

 Selaginese), but of these only between sixty and 

 seventy are in cultivation. Many are exceedingly 

 elegant and useful plants. 



Stove, greenhouse, and hardy evergreen plants 

 are all included, but there is a good deal of varia- 

 tion in the habit and general appearance of the 

 plants. 



Propagation. By cuttings of the creeping stems 

 a: any time except winter, when the cuttings are 

 apt to damp off. Also by layers, the shoots being 

 simply pegged down and severed when rooted. In 

 choosing cuttings take the tips of main stems, if 

 possible, not exhausted side branches, and discard 

 any t hat are showing the little "cones "or fruits. 



Soil. Almost any light, rich soil will do, but it 

 should contain a heavy proportion of sand. Equal 

 parts of loam and leaf mould, with sand and a few 



pieces of charcoal, answer. Peat may be substituted 

 for the leaf mould, and it should be fibrous in the 

 case of grandis, which also requires to be enclosed 

 in a case to do really well. 



Other Cultural Points. The stove and green- 

 house species like a close, uniformly moist atmo- 

 sphere. A good deal of water will be needed in 

 spring, summer, and early autumn, but watering must 

 be very carefully done in winter. For the trailing 

 species particularly broad, shallow pans, rather 

 deeper at the back than the front, are preferable 

 to pots, as a good deal of rooting surface is required, 

 with comparatively little soil. Examples are to be 

 found in kraussiana and its varieties, bakeriana, 

 serpens, and uncinata. Even the erect growers do 

 well in these pans. Uncinata and bakeriana are 

 excellent for baskets or rustic woodwork. Galeot- 

 tei makes a superb mass of greenery in a hanging 

 basket in a large house. Martensii and its varieties 

 are at home upon rockwork in warm houses. 

 Willdenovii is at its best upon a trellis, and 

 kraussiana comes in handily for planting beneath 

 plant house stages. Its varieties do better in 

 small pots (60's) and are very handy for furnish- 

 ing. Apus and emiliana also come in this 

 category. In almost all cases no repotting is 

 needed Selaginellas transplant badly the cut- 

 tings' being simply dibbled into the pans which are 



SELAGINELLA CUSPIDATA EMILIANA (see p. 326). 



to be their permanent quarters. Watering over- 

 head must never be attempted ; the plants detest 

 it. Of manurial stimulants liquid cow manure is 

 best, but it should be given only in the height of 

 the growing season. 



Principal Species and Varieties : 

 [NOTE. s. = fruiting spikes or cones.] 

 alboniteus, slender, trail- spear shaped, s. J" to 



ing, freely pinnate, Ivs. J ' long, grh. 



