Propagation of Mutisia decurrens, Cav. 
: BY 
LAURENCE BAXTER STEWART, 
Plant Propagator in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. 
With Plate XXVIII. 
ALTHOUGH this plant has been known in cultivation for many 
years, it cannot be said that it is as widely grown as it might be. 
This is a great pity, for every one must admit that when well 
grown it forms a picture beautiful in any garden. Perhaps the © 
chief reason for the comparative rarity of this plant in gardens is 
the impression that its propagation is difficult. But there is 
no difficulty if the right methods be adopted. 
The usual practice is to take as cuttings young shoots as they 
appear above the ground and with them a piece of stolon is cut. 
In many cases such shoots may be obtained with roots already 
attached. This, however, is a crude method, and one which 
may result in damage to the parent plant. These shoots are 
those which produce the flowers. Every shoot of the kind 
that is removed means loss of so much flower. It is, therefore, 
essential to ensure a good supply of bloom that these shoots be 
allowed to remain on the parent plant. It has only to be known 
that portions taken from any part of the plant will give successful 
cuttings to put out of count this old wasteful method. 
After the flowering season is over, that is to say after the 
end of August or the beginning of September, it may be found 
advisable to thin out some of the old flowering stems that have 
grown into a tangled mass. From these thinnings a supply of 
material suitable for cuttings may be obtained. 
Perhaps the most successful method of striking these is as 
follows :— 
Select a frame with a shady exposure and in it place one 
foot of drainage. Over this place some rough material such as 
leaves to prevent the drainage from becoming choked up, and 
finally a layer of pure sand, say about eight inches deep. 
In preparing the cuttings it is not necessary that they 
should be cut beneath a node, but anywhere that is most 
[Notes, R.B.G., Edin., No. XXXVII, Nov. 1013.] 
