486 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 406. 



considerably larger in some individuals than in others, so 

 that it is a promising plant for experiment in the direction 

 of improving its fruit. Plants vi^ith black fruit and others 

 without the blue bloom are often seen. 



The Reinwardtias. — These are fine, old-fashioned East 

 Indian mountain plants, belonging to the Flax family, of 

 a dwarf shrubby habit and producing a wealth of yellow 

 flowers. Reinwardtia (Linum) trigyna is the best of the spe- 

 cies commonly grown. The leaves are alternate, small, 

 ovate-oblong, entire, with a mucronate apex and a smooth 

 glaucous green surface. The flowers are two inches across, 

 bright orange-yellow, solitary or in small clusters from the 

 axils of the upper leaves and very numerous. The delicate 

 petals are spreading and connate at the base. This beauti- 

 ful winter-flowering greenhouse plant is easily increased 

 by means of half-ripe cuttings from the tips of the shoots. 

 They can be rooted in a slight bottom-heat in the ordinary 

 way. R. tetragyna, although not as showy as the first 

 named species, is one of our best plants for the parlor and 

 window and home culture generally. Although quite as 

 dwarf as R. trigyna, it is a coarser plant and, if possible, it 

 is easier to propagate. It has rather long, broadly lance- 

 olate acuminate leaves with well-marked veins and coarsely 

 crenate. The stem is stout and erect, and the pale yellow 

 flowers are produced in few-flowered fascicles or singly 

 from the axils of the leaves. These are rather smaller than 

 those of R. trigyna, but equally numerous. Both species 

 are low-growing, dwarf plants, and they form compact, 

 bushy specimens if the young plants are frequently pinched 

 during the summer. Although the petals of these Rein- 

 wardtias are fugacious, the flowers are produced in such 

 abundant succession that both of them make a good show 

 for five or six weeks in midwinter when yellow flowers are 

 scarce. 



Meyenia erecta alba. — In a recent number of this jour- 

 nal reference was made to the beautiful Meyenia erecta, a 

 small shrubby plant nearly related to the Thunbergias. 

 This species forms dvi^arf, bushy specimens and bears 

 almost continually flowers of a deep violet-blue. The 

 variety alba is as yet a rare plant, with almost pure white 

 flowers, but they have a faint tint of purple in the tube, and 

 the throat is a rich orange. In size and shape they do 

 not differ from those of the species. On account of the 

 color this beautiful variety is even more valuable and effec- 

 tive than the parent form and will prove an interesting 

 addition to the list of plants for conservatory and house 

 culture. The Meyenia begins flowering while quite small, 

 almost as soon as the cuttings are vi'ell rooted and estab- 

 lished in pots. 



Cultural Department. 



Euphorbia (Poinsettia) piilcherrima. 



'X'HIS beautiful Mexican shrub is well known as one of the 

 -*■ best decorative plants for winter use, especially at this 

 season when there is a dearth of bright color after the Chrys- 

 anthemums are gone. The old name is the one by which llie 

 plant is generally known m gardens, and since it has become 

 fast-rooted in garden literature Poinsettia will continue to be 

 the common name of the plant. 



In Mexico, of which country this Euphorbia is a native, it 

 forms huge bushes or shrubs that are a mass of brilliant color 

 at the festive season, and so also in Florida, where it is culti- 

 vated frequently. After a frost such as they experienced 

 last winter, the plants are killed down to the ground, although 

 they generally spring up again with returning warmth. There 

 are two well-marked varieties of the Poinsettia that are cul- 

 tivated ; one has white bracts with a suffusion of green and is 

 useful by contrast with the type, and the other is called the 

 double form, owing to its having a double row of scarlet bracts 

 instead of the single whorl. Both of these are more delicate 

 in constitution than the parent, and are more liable to lose the 

 lower leaves when approaching the flowering period, and this 

 detracts from their value as decorative plants. We usually 

 manage to have Poinsettias in full bloom at Thanksgiving time 

 every year, and from then onward until after New Year we 

 have a bright show of color for house decoration, for the din- 

 ner-table or for vases. Complaints are often heard that the 



bracts do not last after they are cut from the plants ; this is due 

 to the loss of sap and can be easily remedied by having a pail 

 of boiling water ready when they are cut in which to steep the 

 cut parts immediately and before the loss of sap takes place. 

 Searing the cut with a hot iron acts in the same way, but we 

 use hot water, an old plan not so well known as it should be. 

 For church decoration these plants are very effective and 

 appropriate at the holiday season, but florists do not care to 

 use them if they do not keep fresh. 



After the flowers are cut the plants must be kept dry for the 

 rest of the winter, and when there are signs of returning growth 

 in May or June they may he cut down close to the soil, leaving 

 only a joint or two, and these will soon start. They may then 

 be repotted and kept outdoors all summer until cool nights 

 arrive at the end of August. They are very sensitive to cold, 

 and will show the effects of a cool night more quickly than 

 almost any other plant; hence the necessity of getting them 

 under cover first of all plants, giving them an airy house at 

 first to prevent a weak growth, and when the heads of bracts 

 show, an occasional watering with some stimulant will greatly 

 help to develop large heads. We have had them twenty-two 

 inches across, but when as large as this they are not effective 

 for general decorative uses. 



Poinsettias are easily propagated by making hardwood cut- 

 tings of two or three joints of the ripened wood and placing 

 them in sand ; these are preferable to cuttings made from soft, 

 succulent shoots, though even the young shoots root freely if 

 taken off after the plants have been exposed to the sun and air 

 outdoors from the time they showed signs of starting into 

 growth. A good heavy loamy soil is best for them at every 

 stage of growth, and they will thrive well in one that suits Roses. 

 Care should be taken to secure perfect drainage in the pots. 



South Lancaster, Mass. ^, O. Orpet. 



The Bertolonias. 



FEW plants offer a more remarkable combination of colors 

 in the foliage than the small but interesting genus, Berto- 

 lonia. It belongs to the natural order Melastomaceae, and, as 

 generally understood in gardens, includes the closely related 

 genus Gravesia. These are all dwarf-arowing, erect or creep- 

 ing herbs, with opposite leaves and axillary or terminal cymes 

 of showy flowers, mostly pubescent or hispid foliage and 

 sinooth stems and peduncles. They are natives of South 

 America, chiefly Brazilian, growing in deep shade in decaying 

 vegetable matter. They naturally love a close and moist 

 atmosphere. 



A number of garden hybrids and varieties have been raised, 

 some common, others exceedingly rare, in cultivation. The 

 rather common and very beautiful Bertolonia Van Houtteii is 

 understood to be a garden hybrid. The foliage is ovate, ellip- 

 tic, or ovate-lanceolate, mostly with cordate base and obtuse 

 apex, sometimes acute, or even acuminate ; it is generally 

 marked with lines or spots of a startling bright and pure color. 

 The flowers are showy, white, rose or lilac, and open in the 

 morning only and during dull weather, but are produced 

 almost continually liy well-grown plants. Petals five, ovate or 

 elliptical, acute or obtuse, with a short claw; sepals acicular, 

 mostly glandular and hairy. Stamens yellow or white. The 

 inflorescence is an umbellate or corymbose cyme, borne on 

 single or branched peduncles, above the foliage. 



The Bertolonias are not common in cultivation ; in fact, 

 they belong to a class of plants that will always remain rare, 

 although easily grown when the proper method of cultivation 

 is understood. They should be grown in a moist stove or 

 under bell-glasses in almost any warm g'reenhouse, where they 

 can be shaded from the strong sun. Fibrous peat and sphag- 

 num moss, chopped and mixed with some dry cow-manure, is 

 the most satisfactory compost. The plants will grow in any 

 light soil, but the above mixture is preferable to any other. 

 Propagation by means of cuttings is simple and easy. The 

 cuttings should be inserted smgly in two-inch pots and plunged 

 in moderate bottom-heat under a bell-glass. Young leaves 

 may also be used for reproduction and should be inserted in 

 sand in the same way as cuttings of Begonia leaves, but 

 under a bell-glass. Small plants will form in time at the 

 base of the principal veins, but the process is slow and only 

 to be recommended for very rare kinds. 



All the varieties are easily raised from seed, and this is the 

 most satisfactory method of propagation. Seed should be 

 sown in a compost soil of moist peat and sand, covered with 

 glass and kept moderately warm and shady. Hybridization is 

 very easy, and new distinct varieties may thus be raised 

 by any intelligent gardener. The real origin of many of the 

 garden forms is not very clear ; probably they connect the two 

 genera, as Gravesias have always been known to horticultur- 



