Jasvavlx 4, 19.17. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



Note the 6-footer Author of the Article on "Caladium'' Bataviensis Standing Among his Plants. 



more than four feet tall, or as a speci- 

 men plant in borders or on lawns. The 

 stems are dark, wine red. 



The Wonderful dasheen is a variety 

 that is similar to the foregoing in many 

 respects, but has broader and larger 

 leaves. The wonderful part is doubt- 

 less in the number of leaves that are 

 produced in a season. It is not an ex- 

 aggeration to say that this caladium 

 will produce five times as many leaves 

 in the same length of time as the old 

 esculentum, and the leaves are almost 

 as large and fully as ornamental. Here, 

 in northern Tennessee, the plant ffrows 

 fully six or seven feet tall. This va- 

 riety is bound to be widely used as 

 soon as known. 



This Variety Has No Tubers. 



Closely allied to the caladiums are 

 tlie colocasias and xanthosomas. Colo- 

 L-asia or Xanthosoma Marehallii, how- 

 ever, looks more like a giant "rabbit's 

 ear" or "mule's ear," such as we see 

 in the northern swamps, than like the 

 ealadiums to which we are accustomed. 

 It does not produce tubers, and so must 

 be sold as a growing plant, a fact that 

 may mitigate against its popularity. 

 The plant grows here from four to six 

 feet tall, with leaves three or more feet 

 long and of a rich, dark green color. 



Xanthosoma or Colocasia illustris is a 

 ilwarf member of the family, seldom 

 growing more than thirty inches tall. 

 Its leaves are slightly larger than calla 

 leaves and are wonderfully handsome, 



being 



a good green, mottled and 



blotched with plum, bronze and all in- 

 termediate shades. For a border plant 

 there is nothing I have ever seen that 

 will produce a richer effect, especially as 

 a border to a bed of the following 

 variety: 



Oue of the Handsomest. 



Xanthosoma or Colocasia Bataviensis, 

 m my opinion, is the best of the ele- 

 pliant's ear tribe. It grows rapidly, 

 |l. rowing many leaves from even a small 

 bulb. One of the accompanying illus- 

 ♦ations is made from a photograph of 

 a plant that grew from a single tuber 



"St summer, and the tuber was no 

 J^rger than a baseball at planting time, 



ie middle of April. I have noted many 

 r'ants with as many as thirty-five or 

 ^-•^^^y good leaves that would average 

 j|ve and a half feet tall. The other il- 

 '■jstration, showing a bed of this va- 

 '■^ety, indicates the height of the plants. 



1 am standing in the edge of the bed, 

 and my height is six feet one inch 

 just as I stand, without my hat. 



The stem of each leaf is a dark plum 

 color, and the leaf itself is a blue-green, 

 with veins the color of the stem. The 

 blade of the leaf is not so large as that 

 of Caladium esculentum, but the general 

 effect is much richer and more tropical. 



This season I had plants, as large as 

 the single plant in the illustration, that 

 grew from tubers no more than an inch 

 in diameter. The tubers are more easily 

 kept over winter than the esculentum 

 tubers, and thus far they have never 

 shown the soft rot that destroys the cen- 

 ter eye in so many caladium bulbs. The 

 plant grows rapidly and makes a show 

 earlier in the season than a caladium of 

 the old variety. 



While there are several other varie- 

 ties, the ones I have named are the eas 

 iest to grow and I think they are the 

 most valuable for all outdoor planting. 

 It might be stated that some of these 

 varieties bloom freely, but the blossoms, 

 not adding materially to the beauty of 



the plants, may be disregarded in stat- 

 ing their merits. Floyd Bralliar. 



CLIMBEBS FOB CONSEBVATOBY. 



Kindly name a few vines that can be 

 successfully grown in a conservatory. I 

 wish to plant them in the ground and. 

 would like quick results, as the place is 

 quite bare at present. W. F. J. — la. 



A few suitable climbers are the fol- 

 lowing; AUamanda Hendersoni, A. 

 Williamsi, Bougainvillea Sanderiana, 

 Stephanotis floribunda. Plumbago Ca- 

 pensis, Jasminum primulinum, Cleroden- 

 dron Balfouri, Clematis indivisa and 

 Cissus discolor. For covering walls of 

 brick, stone or cement, Ficus repens is 

 satisfactory. Some of the foregoing are 

 classed as strove or tropical plants, but 

 all will do well in an ordinary conserva- 

 tory, with a minimum of 45 degrees. 

 The hoyas, passifloras, bignonias, Eose 

 Cherokee and a number of other varieties 

 are available, but those first named will 

 be found quite suitable. C. W. 



Xanthosoma or Colocasia Bataviensis. 



