BULBOUS PLANTS 247 



A. coronaria and A. fulgens are the most useful for this purpose. 

 The many varieties are sold cheaply by dealers in bulbs. 



Propagation. By the division of roots in the early Spring be- 

 fore growth starts, or by seeds in Fall or Spring. 



CALADIUM, FANCY LEAVED. There are several species 

 and a great many forms of these gaudy foliage plants. They are 

 principally used to fill the benches of the conservatory during the 

 Summer months, when most of the usual greenhouse plants are oc- 

 cupying their Summer quarters out of doors. They are also used 

 in bedding, and if the higher colored forms are avoided, choosing 

 those in which green and red predominate in the leaves, they will 

 succeed well even in the full sun. A goodly quantity of bonemeal 

 worked into the soil before planting will make strong and well- 

 colored leaves. The small-leaved kind called C. argyrites will be 

 all the more useful if not started too early, as it is most needed late 

 in the year. It keeps well among sawdust in paper bags. The tu- 

 bers are so small that several hundred can be put in a small bag. 

 Caladium odoratum or Colocasia odorata is used much in the same 

 manner for outdoor decoration in Summer as the well-known 

 Dasheen or Elephant Ear, Colocasia esculenta. They are known 

 from each other by C. odorata having thick, fleshy stems above 

 ground and the leaves pointing upward, or at least growing with 

 the leaf blade horizontal, while C. esculenta has drooping leaf 

 blades, and has no stem above ground. They are both wintered 

 in the same way, that is, in a dormant condition, in a warm 

 place, although C. odorata can easily be kept over Winter with 

 the roots of the previous Summer preserved and the foHage 

 green by storing the stems thickly together in boxes, keeping on 

 the youngest leaves when lifted and storing plants in a fairly 

 warm house, giving water occasionally. Well furnished plants 

 can be had quicker from the stems of this than from those of 

 C. esculenta. 



Starting Tubers. The first lot of tubers should be started 

 about the middle of February for conservatory decoration. They 

 should first be gone over carefully, and any that show signs of rotting 

 at the bottoms should have the decayed part cut or scraped off and 

 dusted with powdered charcoal. The under part of a Caladium 

 tuber, after it has reached a certain size, is more or less in a state 

 of decay, but sometimes, through being kept too wet, too dry, or 

 in a place which is too cold, this natural decay is hastened by rot, 

 which, if not checked, will kill the tuber in a short time. The white. 



