FBANCISOEA. 107 



stagnate about the roots. As before stated, it is an annual ; 

 the stem aiid branches are four-angled, with the angles 

 winged ; the leaves are opposite, ovate-lanceolate, with a 

 tapering point, three-nerved, of a bright shining green 

 colour, and nearly three inches long. The flowers are pro- 

 duced in terminal and axillary racemes, so as to form a 

 dense head, and they are large, and of a beautiful violet 

 colour. It should be generally cultivated. 



Fkanciscea. 



This beautiful genus cannot be too extensively grown as 

 home ornaments, being highly decorative, deliciously sweet, 

 and also easily brought into bloom at any season of the 

 year. It is also a genus of first-rate value, as furnishing 

 grand objects for exhibition purposes. To grow these plants 

 successfully, they must be potted in a compost consisting of 

 a mixture of fibrous peat and leaf mould, in equal propor- 

 tions, one-fourth the bulk of the mass of loam, and a good 

 quantity of silver sand being added. The plants should be 

 shifted directly after they have done flowering, and placed 

 in a temperature ranging from 60° to 68° and liberally 

 treated with water, both to the roots and foliage. When 

 the young shoots have made five or six leaves, the tops 

 should be pinched off. This treatment should be continued 

 until [October or November, when the flowers . will begin to 

 show themselves, and syringing must be then less frequently 

 had recourse to. The plants should at this stage, if not 

 wanted] in bloom, immediately be removed to a much lower 

 temperature, say to a temperature of about 48°, which will 

 greatly enhance the quality of the blooms. For a succession 

 of flowers, plants must be kept growing later, and be brought 

 forward at various times. They, are all evergreen shrubs of 



