PLUMBAGO. 157 



P. erecta. — A handsome shrub, with obovate, somewhat 

 cordate leaves, which are very rough. The flowers grow in 

 pendulous racemes, and are of a bright blue colour, freely 

 produced in the summer months, and continuing- a long time 

 in beauty. Native of South America. 



P. voluhilk. — This species is a fine plant for a pUlar or 

 rafter in the stove. The leaves are ovate-oblong, stout, and 

 very rough, producing a harsh grating sound when touched. 

 The racemes are pendulous ; the flowers lavender-coloured 

 on the calyx, with a deep violet purple corolla. It blooms 

 during the whole summer. Native of Mexico. 



Plumbago. 



P. rosea coccinea. — This is a lovely variety of an old and 

 well-known plant, which is good for winter decoration, and 

 is of free branching habit, producing panicles upwards of 

 two feet long of large red blooms during the whole winter. 

 Pot in a mixture of fibrous peat and leaf mould, with the 

 addition of some silver sand, and a small portion of loam. 

 It is a native of the East Indies. 



POINSETTIA. 



An old genus in our gardens now, but one which is 

 admired whenever seen in a well-cultivated state. The end 

 of May or beginning of June is a good time to get the 

 old plants started, and if a batch of young plants are to be 

 grown, they should by this time be ready for pushing on. 

 The soil should be fibrous loam, peat, and leaf mould, with 

 a good share of silver sand. They should be grown in a 

 cool house up to the beginning or middle of September, 

 when they should be moved into stove heat, which will cause 

 them to develop their bright scarlet bracts in the course of 



