490 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 



from Mexico, two years later ; and E. Monteiri, from Bahia, 1864. E. 

 abyssinica, E. canariensis, and E. chandelabrwm are the most striking 

 of the large Cactus-like species. 



Prini ais eis EUPHORBIA ALEPPic A (Aleppo). Stem 1 foot high. Leaves 

 '^*'^^^^' slender, crowded. Bracts yellow, in dense terminal heads ; 

 July and August. Herbaceous perennial. Introduced from Crete, 1739. 

 E. ATROPURPUREA (dark purple). Stem 3 to 6 feet high. Leaves 

 blunt-lance-shaped, glaucous, spreading or drooping. Bracts deep reddish 

 purple ; March. Evergreen greenhouse shrub. 



E. CYPARissiAS (Cypress-like). Cypress Spurge. Stems 1 to 2 feet 

 high. Leaves very narrow, somewhat glaucous and crowded. Bracts 

 numerous, somewhat heart-shaped, yellow; June and July. A hardy 

 perennial. 



E. FULGENS (glittering). Stem 4 feet high. Leaves lance-shaped. 

 Bracts bright orange-scarlet, in axillary clusters ; winter. Stove perennial. 

 Generally known under the name of E. jacquinifiora. Mexico. 



E. Monteiri (Monteiro's). Stem branching, 3 to 6 feet high. 

 Leaves narrow-spoon-shaped, fleshy. Bracts green. Stove perennial. 



E. MvRsmiTES (Myrsine-like). Stem prostrate. Leaves fleshy, 

 concave, stalkless. Bracts oval, yellow ; July. Evergreen hardy herb. 



E. PiLOSA (hairy). Stem 18 inches high. Leaves narrow-oblong. 

 Bracts greenish yellow, in dense terminal tufts; May to August. An 

 evergreen perennial herb. Introduced from Siberia, 1758. 



E. PULCHERRiMA (most beautiful). Stems woody at base, 2 to 6 

 feet high. Leaves oval-elliptical, stalked. Bracts large, vermilion; 

 winter. Stove shrub, better known as Poinsettia pulcherrima. There 

 is a variety with white bracts. 



E. SPLENDENS (splendid). Stems dark, branching, thickly armed 

 with long, stout thorns, 4 feet high. Bracts waxy-looking, bright red ; 

 almost continuously flowering. Stove perennial. Isle of France. 



Hardy species of Euphorbia grow readily in a dry 

 border in any garden soil, and may be increased by 

 cuttings, or divisions of the roots. The stove species, though perennial, 

 give best results when cuttings are struck afresh every few months and 

 the oldest of the flowered plants thrown away. By this method a 

 succession of healthy young plants with a good terminal head of flowers 

 and bracts may be secured. A suitable compost for pot-culture may be 

 contrived thus : turfy loam, two parts ; dried cow-manure, one part ; leaf- 

 mould, one part. The cuttings should be taken close to the old wood, in 

 June, inserted singly in small pots, and placed in a close propagating 

 frame, and after rooting, grown on without stopping the shoots, near 



