November 28, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



477 



Achiraenes. — I. 



EXCEPT the Gloxinias, so-called, the genus Achimenes 

 is the only one of the rich order of Gesneracea? 

 that is much cultivated. The Isolomas, Tydaeas, Nasgelias 

 and others are very ornamental, some for their flowers, 

 some for their foliage, and some for both, yet they are almost 

 unknown in our gardens. The beautiful figures of these plants 

 in the Flore des Serres have, seemingly, produced little effect 

 in the way of extending their cultivation. Not that any are 



they advance to straight, outward-inclining sticks, and so 

 treated they make, it must be confessed, very striking objects, 

 with their scarlet, purple or white flowers springing abun- 

 dantly from every axil, each flower presenting its full face to 

 the spectator ; yet I much prefer a simpler mode of cultiva- 

 tion, that is, a wholly natural growth without stakes of any 

 kind. Some have sufficiently strong stems to stand erect, 

 others stream gracefully over the edges of the pots. I have 

 seldom seen a more pleasing array in a greenhouse than a 

 long shelf completely filled with pots of the fine sort called 



Fig. 76. — Myrica Carolinensis. — See page 474. 



more beautiful than the Achimenes, but they are different, and 

 variety is one source of pleasure. 



Achimenes are natives of the tropical regions of the New 

 World, being found in moist and rich soils, from Mexico to 

 Brazil. Their habit of growth is to spread by underground 

 extensions, and it was a remark of Colonel Wilder's that they 

 must be a terrible pest in cultivated grounds, where they are 

 hardy, just as Oxalis cernua, introduced from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, has become in Malta. No more showy plants can 

 be found for greenhouse decoration from May to October, and 

 for window-boxes in the summer they are unsurpassed. They 

 are commonly grown in a rather stiff manner, closely tied as 



Masterpiece, all in full bloom, the flowers contrasting finely 

 with the rich bronzy foliage. The manner of treatment which 

 I have found satisfactory is as follows : About April 1st I pot 

 the bulbs in ordinary garden-soil, with which a considerable 

 quantity of leaf-mold has been mixed. They are covered 

 about half an inch, regularly watered, and kept warm. The 

 leaves appear above the surface in about three weeks, and, if 

 not chilled or dried, grow rapidly and begin to bloom by the 

 end of May. About the middle of October the flowering sea- 

 son is over and the pots should then be dried off. The bulbs 

 may be separated from the earth in which they grew at any 

 convenient time ; those of the varieties of longirlora will be 



