32 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 204. 



greenish bracts and a conspicuous, spreading, two-lipped 

 limb, the lower lip being deeply trilobed. The color is vivid 

 orange-scarlet internally, and yellowish outside. The plant is 

 of easy culture, and flowers freely when young. It is readily 

 propagated from moderately firm cuttings with a slight heel 

 of older wood, placed in strong bottom-heat and kept close. 

 The young plants when potted should be placed in a high 

 stove temperature, and have abundant water on roots and 

 leaves while actively growing. A moist atmosphere is essen- 

 tial to hold in check the red spider until the leaves become 

 hard enough to defy its attacks. They may be kept cooler and 

 comparatively dry after flowering, and, like older plants, they 

 should be cut back closely in spring, placed under stove treat- 

 ment, and repotted when the young shoots have made a fair 

 start. Seeds ripen freely, and seedlings make better plants 

 than those obtained from cuttings. The seeds should be sown 

 when fully ripe, in early spring, and ihe plants grown on as 

 cuttings are in a stove near the glass. The plant was intro- 

 duced from Me.xico in 1844. The well-known variety, A. 

 aurantiaca Roezlii, was introduced from the same country in 

 1867. It is a rather better plant than the species, with silvery 

 leaves and brighter flowers. 



Cestrum aurantiacum.— This shrub is an old occupant of 

 greenhouses, of fr-ee growth and peculiarly graceful habit, and 

 bearing attractive flowers in great profusion. Its dark green, 



dom, and is destitute of foliage. The stems are flattened, of 

 lively green color, and jointed in three-inch sections about an 

 inch in width. The bright, rosy purple flowers are some 

 three inches in length, and of bright, rosy purple color. They 

 appear freely at the points of the shoots during the winter 

 and last for several weeks, large plants being often in bloom 

 for months together. A stove temperature and plenty of 

 moisture are required when the plant is making its growth, 

 but after that period the heat may be reduced by ten or filteen 

 degrees, when water should be applied sparingly and only to 

 the roots. Small portions of the young stems are easily rooted 

 in sandy soil, l)ut the plants obtained by this method of propa- 

 gation, though useful for hanging-baskets and marginal stage- 

 pots, are not so eft'ective as those secured by grafting on stocks 

 of the Barbadoes Gooseberry, Pereskia aculeata. The stock 

 is a plant of the same order as E. truncatum, with spiny 

 stems and large, oval leaves. It is easily grown Irom cuttings 

 to the required height, which varies according to the size 

 of the specimen desired. Neat plants are obtained by using 

 a single cion on stocks twelve or eighteen inches high, and 

 for larger specimens taller stocks must be employed, insert- 

 ing a cion at the top and others at intervals along the stem. 

 In grafting it is simply necessary to cut away the upper por- 

 tion of the stock, clean across at the required height ; remove 

 a small wedge-shaped piece at the top, and fit a portion of the 



Fig. 3. — All Illustral'on of the use of Her)»aceous Plints in connection w^tli building?. — See page 26. 



oval leaves make an admirable setting for the bright orange 

 blossoms, which are tubular and about an inch long, with a 

 small, regularly parted, refle.xed limb, and borne in large, loose 

 panicles. Young plants are quickly obtained from cuttings of 

 the soft wood at almost any season of the year. This Cestrum 

 should be planted in a sunny part of the garden after the dan- 

 ger of frost is past, and in autumn it should be potted and 

 placed in a cool greenhouse for the winter. In this way it will 

 make a good display out-of-doors in summer, and again under 

 glass in winter. It does equally well in a permanent green- 

 house-bed. In any case, older plants should be regularly, 

 though moderately, pruned every spring before vigorous 

 growth begins, but not until the roots have started. Large, 

 full-grown specimens bloom more freely in proportion to their 

 size than those that are smaller, and it is therefore desirable 

 to encourage their development. C. aurantiacum is a native 

 of Central America, and was first introduced to European 

 gardens in 1843. 



- Epifhyllu.m truncatum. — None of the Cactus familyexcels 

 in graceful beauty this little inhabitant of the Organ Mountains 

 of Brazil. It is an old plant in gardens and universally ad- 

 inired, having been introduced about a hundred years ago. 

 The growth has some of the remarkable characters of its 

 curious relatives, but lacks their stiff outline and grotesque 

 aspect. It has a rambling habit, branching with great free- 



young stem about three or four inches long with growing tip 

 to the opening thus made, binding it firmly with soft material. 

 Openings made in the side of the stem should be treated in 

 the same manner, and in a few weeks the binding may be re- 

 moved. Grafted plants thrive most vigorously in a compost 

 of rich loam, thoroughly decomposed cow-manure and sand, 

 but those on their own roots give more satisfaction in a soil 

 something poorer. The former should also be watered occa- 

 sionallv with weak liquid manure, when growing freely, and 

 annually top-dressed with rich soil when repotting is inexpe- 

 dient. There are many varieties of E. truncatum, or hybrids 

 of that species, and the very slightly different E. Russellianum. 

 These closely resemble their parents in all but the colorof the 

 flowers, which includes selfs of orange, purple, scarlet and 

 pink, and shades of the three latter colors intermixed with 

 white. Under its common name of Crab Cactus this plant is 

 now brightening many a cottage window, and it has few supe- 

 riors for this purpose among winter-flowering plants. 



To.xicoPHL.CA SPECTABiLis. — This is the most beautiful 

 plant now flowering in our greenhouses. It is one mass of 

 pure white fragrant flowers and deep verdant foliage. It was 

 introduced from south Africa some twenty years ago, and is 

 one of the most popular of indoor plants. It is of shrubby 

 habit, with opposite, oblong-lanceolate leathery leaves four to 

 five inches long. Thejasmine-like flowers, with narrow tubeand 



