470 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 19, 1878. 
with a sprinkling of coarse grit and charcoal dust, made firm 
in planting.— VERITAS. 
CAPE HEATHS.—No. 12. 
DECEMBER. 
In these our concluding notes upon Ericas we have intro- 
duced a few elegant but much-neglected species without at 
all taking into account their time of flowering. They are not 
kinds that are chosen by those who grow for exhibition purposes ; 
but we venture to assert without fear of contradiction that all 
would be welcomed by any amateur who seeks to adorn his 
greenhouse with beautiful and interesting flowers. It has 
been written of the amateur plant-growers that they “do not 
care for Heaths,” but our own experience and observation 
directly contradict such an assertion, for we never heard 
this remark from either sex. True, many have been deterred 
from entering upon their cultivation by the bugbear which is 
always thrown around these beautiful plants by many pro- 
fessional gardeners, who tell their amateur friends, with such 
a profound look and mysterious shake of the head, that Ericas 
are so very difficult to grow and they will never succeed, but 
we would urge our amateur plant lovers to try them. We 
acknowledge and know full well there are difficulties attending 
their management, and so there are with all other plants more 
or less; but there is no secret about the growing of Heaths that 
cannot be mastered ; and for general directions we should say, 
Drain your pots thoroughly, pot firmly in good sweet peat 
soil, do not add too much sand as it only impoverishes the soil, 
do not oyerpot, water freely but judiciously, keep a free and 
dry atmosphere about the plants, and should mildew show 
itself immediately apply the remedy we have already given. 
Plants treated in this manner will, however, not suffer much, 
if any, from this disease. Other and minor details in their 
management will suggest themselves to those cultivators who 
look upon the attentions their pets require as a labour of love, 
and their care will be rewarded by a rich return of beautiful 
flowers, which last long in full beauty, and the like of which 
is not to be obtained from any other genus of plants. 
Fig 69.—Erica Banksiana alba. 
Brica Banksiana alba (fig. 69).— A dwarf-growing pretty 
plant, having a beauty entirely its own. Leaves arranged in 
threes, dark green. Flowers terminal upon the small branches, 
produced singly or in pairs; calyx imbricated ; corolla long 
and cylindrical, white; stamens long, much exserted and 
brown, and add much to the general effect. 
£. lutca.—A dense-growing species. Leaves small, linear, 
and quite smooth, light green. Flowers mostly in pairs, soft 
yellow, produced in the greatest profusion on the points of all 
the little branches. 
E. haticacaba.—This we cannot recommend as a very showy 
species ; nevertheless it is a most interesting kind, dense and 
branching in habit, with long and closely-set dark green 
leaves. Flowers pendant, large. and inflated, pale yellow. 
\\ 
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NUTS 
Ly 
Fig. 70.—Erica buccinzeformis. 
£. buccineformis (fig. 70).—Elegant, somewhat slender-srow- 
ing. Leaves linear, closely set, soft green. Flowers mostly in 
twos and threes, long and tubular, rosy red tipped with green ; 
stamens exserted. 
E. moschata,—An erect-growing species with slender branches, 
and short linear light green leaves. Flowers in threes or 
fours, large, ovate, with a suddenly contracted neck and re- 
curved limb ; pale yellow, yielding a Musk-like fragrance. 
£. urceolaris.—Leaves long, arranged in threes, dark green. 
Flowers in umbels, erect, white, and borne in great profusion. 
A very ornamental plant. 
E. purialis—A dense-growing much-branched plant, with 
broad, short, bright green leaves. Flowers globose, mostly in 
threes, rosy purple, and produced in such profusion as to give 
to each branch the appearance of dense umbel. 
LB. Sebana rubra.—the varieties of Sebana are most interest- 
ing, eccentric in shape, and with such sad combinations of 
colour they rivet the attention of the most obtuse observer. 
They are strong-growing plants and profuse bloomers. Leaves 
dense, mostly in threes, linear acute, dark green. In the 
present variety the large calyx is straw colour; corolla cylin- 
drical, deep red ; stamens much exserted, chocolate brown. 
LE Scbana fusca.—tIn this variety the flowers are longer than 
in the preceding, and the corolla differsin being a pale brown. 
DB. Sebana lutea.—This differs in the corolla being yellow, 
otherwise it resembles in habit and appearance the variety rubra. 
L. barbata.—A very distinct and ornamental species. Leaves 
large, ovate, arranged in fours, dark green, and profusely 
furnished with long hairs. Flowers urceolate, hairy, white, 
produced in umbels terminating all the branches. 
L. fragrans.—A slender -growing elegant little plant. Leaves 
linear, smooth, arranged in threes, light green; calyx large, 
same colour as the flower, which is ovate, mostly in pairs, on 
the ends of all the branches; light purple if exposed to the 
air, but white indoors. Delicately perfumed. 
CGENOTHERA TARAXACIFOLIA. 
THE Dandeclion-leayed Eyening Primrose is of prostrate but 
not very compact habit, and is highly ornamental. The flowers 
