396 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 



oblong-lance-shaped. Flowers lilac, the cymes clustered in corymbs; 

 May to September. Greenhouse shrub. 



H. INDICUM (Indian). Stem a foot high. Leaves oval, somewhat 

 heart-shaped, margins faintly toothed or wavy. Flowers bluish, in long, 

 dense spikes ; June to August. Annual requiring stove treatment. 



H. PERUVIANUM (Peruvian). Cherry Pie ; Common Heliotrope, or 

 Turnsol. Stem branched, shrubby, as usually grown, from 1 to 2 feet 

 high, but if trained up a greenhouse wall, 10 or 12 feet high. Leaves 

 oblong-lance-shaped, wrinkled and hairy. Flowers lilac or dark blue, 

 varying greatly under cultivation; strongly but pleasingly scented; 

 throughout the year. Greenhouse perennial. Plate 192, 

 Garden varieues. These have been bred from H. peruvianurn. Their 

 ■flowers vary from white through all shades to rich dark 

 blue or violet. The following is a selection from the best sorts :— 



Albert Delaux, foliage marbled yelloy 



Comtesse de Mortem 



Miss Nightingale, dark lilac, 



M. Vilgrain, pale lilac, immense ti 

 Pmd Pfitzer, light flowers, large ti 

 President Garfield, mauve-purple. 



The Queen, nearly white, very fragrant. 

 VoUerrianum, violet, dwarf. 

 White Lady, nearly white, large truss 

 free flowering. 



Cultivation. . Heliotropes are not exacting in the matter of soil, but 

 will do best in fresh sandy loam. The greenhouse species 

 do not require much heat, but must be protected from cold, which 

 quickly proves fatal. In summer it is advisable to turn pot-plants out 

 of the conservatory or greenhouse to enable them to harden their wood ; 

 and many plants are raised from cuttings for summer-bedding purposes 

 only. These cuttings may be inserted at any time, but spring and autumn 

 are the best periods for the process. They should be made from the 

 young shoots, and rooted in a close frame ; afterwards potted singly and 

 grown on in a temperature of about 60°, giving the characters of 

 standards, pyramids, or dwarfs by differently stopping the shoots. To 

 obtam a quantity for bedding, cuttings are taken in autumn, and inserted 

 thickly in pots in a close frame. In spring other cuttings are taken from 

 these autumn-struck plants, which are now thrown away. The spring- 

 struck plants should not be bedded out until all danger of frost is past 

 They are also grown from seed sown in heat in March. 



