STOVE FOLIAGE PLANTS. 17 



some of the oldest and best known making grand specimens 

 in a short time under generous treatment. They thrive best 

 in rough fibry loam and peat and silver sand, sprinkled vpith 

 nodules of charcoal and bone-meal. Abundance of water, moist 

 air, and shading from bright sunshine assist in the produc- 

 tion of the finest leaves ; and when the pots become full of 

 roots, liquid manure should be freely applied. When the 

 leaves attain their full size, a drier and more airy atmosphere 

 deepens the colours and makes the plant more hardy for exhi- 

 bition. After the leaves ripen and die off in the autumn, the 

 pots should be laid on their sides in an intermediate tempera- 

 ture ; and special care must be taken to keep them at rest 

 without risk of becoming "dust dry," as the roots are then 

 very liable to become " mealy " and worthless. They are easily 

 propagated by division of the roots, and specimens of any 

 size are readily formed by placing a sufficient number of strong 

 roots or tubers in a pot of the desired size. 



CAELUDOYICA. 



An elegant and useful genus of foliage plants, with a resem- 

 blance to palms in their habits and appearance. C elegmis 

 and G. jMlmata make the best specimens. They grow freely 

 in a moist stove, in a mixture of two parts peat and one of 

 loam, with a liberal sprinkling of silver sand. A copious 

 supply of liquid manure, when the plants are growing freely, 

 increases the size of the leaves and the elegance of the plant 

 for exhibition. 



CISSUS. 



In C. discolor we have one of the most beautiful of all 

 the variegated-leaved plants in cultivation. It is a free- 

 growing stove climber, and makes a grand specimen for exhi- 

 bition when brought out in its best condition and neatly 

 trained over a suitable trellis. It thrives well in a compost 

 of rough turfy peat and loam, with a little old mushroom- bed 

 manure and sand, all well incorporated. When the pot is 

 filled with roots, an application once a week of clear liquid 



B 



