HOT-HOUSE OR STOVE PLANTS. 



355 



ordinary plant in cultivation. D. gyrans, the Moving 

 Plant, or the Telegraph Plant, as it is popularly 

 called, cannot toast of beauty either in foUage or 

 flowers, hut is entirely dependent upon its peculiar 

 motion for the interest it excites. It is a slender, 

 erect plant, sparingly branched, and attaining a 

 height of about two feet. The flowers are an-anged 

 in short terminal racemes ; these are small, and deep 

 violet in colour. The leaves are trifoliate, the ter- 

 minal leaflet being about two inches long, green and 

 glaucous. The side leaflets, which give the interest 

 to the plant, are very small ; these, without any ex- 

 ternal influence, are nearly always in motion, first 

 one leaflet moving up or down, then both, and fre- 

 quently the whole of the leaflets on the plant, the 

 greatest activity being displayed when the tempera- 

 ture is high, and the atmosphere well charged with 

 moisture, and the sun's rays fall direct upon it. Pot 

 in peat and sand. It enjoys strong heat and a 

 moist atmosphere. It is a native of the East Indies. 



Dicliorisaiidra. — An interesting and showy 

 family belonging to Cotnmelinacece. and nearly allied 

 to Tradescantia. The genus contains plants remark- 

 able for the beauty of their flowers as well aa the 

 variegatiou of their leaves. Dichorisandras (some- 

 times written Dichorizandra) should be potted in 

 peat and leaf -mould, in about equal parts, adding a 

 little. loam and sand. Tliese plants enjoy a moderate 

 supply of water and a high temperature in summer, 

 but less of both are requisite in winter. 



D. leucophthalmns is a 

 species witli panicles of 

 nch blue flowers aud a 

 large white eye. S^umner 

 montlis. Brazil. 



D. musaica — tills species is 

 lemarkable for tlie beauty 

 of its leaves, as well as for 

 its panicles of rich azure- 

 blue flowers. They are 

 deep green, barred and 

 p e n c i 1 1 e d transversely 



with zigzag lines of sil- 

 very- wMte, the under side 

 of a uniform deep purple. 

 Peru. 

 D. ovata — an erect-grow- 

 ing plant with lanceolate- 

 ovate leaves, deep green 

 above, reddish-purple be- 

 neath, and terminal erect 

 tacemes of deep blue flow- 

 ers. Spring and early 

 summer. Brazil. 



SiefiTeubacIiia. — A handsome genus of Arads, 

 aU natives of South America and the West Indies, 

 where the first-known species is called the Dumb-cane. 

 This name is derived from the naked stems, after the 

 leaves have fallen, having a very cane-like appear- 

 ance, and because the sap is so acrid that if placed 

 on the tongue it causes that organ to swell rapidly, 

 and renders its victim speechless. 



Dieffenbachias rank amongst the finest of vane- 

 gated-leaved plants, and are extremely easy to culti- 

 vate. Pot in equal parts of peat, loam, and rotten 

 manure, adding a little sand. They enjoy abundance 

 of water both to the roots and foKage, and luxuriate 

 in a hot moist atmosphere. There are a great 

 number of kinds. 



B. amceua — this fine form 

 is of compact growth, 

 leaves oblong-acute, deep 

 green with a light mii 

 rib, the blade profusely 

 shotted and blotched 

 with white and yel- 

 low. 



D. Bausel — leaves about a 

 foot long and broad, peti- 

 oles white,blade yellowish 

 freeu, marbled aod bor- 

 ered with dark green, 

 and blotched and spotted 

 with white.' 



D. Carderii— an extremely 

 beautiful and bold-grow- 

 ing plant, leaves large and 

 oblong, of an intense rich 

 green, marbled with 

 creamy-yellow and white. 



D. illustris — an elegant 

 plant with dark green 

 leaves, mottled and spot- 

 ted with yellowish-green 

 and white. 



D. imperator — leaves 

 ovate-lanQeolate, deep 

 olive-green, blotched with 

 yellow and white, 



D. Leopoldii — leaves ob- 

 long-ovate, of a deep 

 lustrous green j midrib 

 pure ivory-white, feath- 



ered on each side with a 

 band of greyish-white. 



D. magniflca — leaves oblong 

 ovate, of a shining dark 

 green, richly variegated 

 with white, the variega- 

 tion following the direc- 

 tion of the nerves. 



B. nobilis — a dwarf form, 

 deep rich green, profusely 

 spotted and blotched with 

 white. 



B. Begina — a splendid 

 form with large broad 

 oblong-acute leaves, of a 

 greenish -white, marbled 

 with pale green ; the nar- 

 row margiu rich deep 

 green. 



B. Bex — a close-growing 

 handsome form, with ob- 

 long-lanceolate leaves, 

 blades rich deep green 

 passing to light green at 

 the margin, mottled and 

 flaked with white aud 

 greenish-white. 



B. spleudens — stem mot- 

 tled with various shades 

 of green, blade of leaf 

 intense deep satiny-green, 

 very lustrous, mottled 

 with white : midrib broad, 

 ivory-white. 



X)ion, — A Mexican Cyoadaceous genus, containing 

 two species only, the best known being D. edule ; this 

 is a bold and handsome plant, even in a young state ; 

 stem stout, clothed, Hke the petioles, vfith short 

 woolly hair ; the leaves are some six or more feet in 

 length, piiinate, firm and hard, as if cut out of metal, 

 pea-green in colour. The seed-bearing cone is very 

 large, producing seeds as large as Walnuts, from 

 which a kind of arrowroot is obtained, and hence the 

 specific name edule. Mexico, 



Diousea, — ^A genus belonging to the Sundew 

 family (JJroaeraeece), and, from its habit of catching 

 flies and other insects, from which it derives nourish- 

 ment, it is called a Carnivorous plant. 



Pot in peat and living sphagnum moss, drain well, 

 and stand in a pan of water ; this, however, should 

 be frequently changed to prevent stagnation. Inter- 

 mediate House, 



D. mmcipula (Venus' Fly-trap) is the only mem- 

 ber of the genus, and is a, very remarkable plant. 

 It forms little rosette-like tufts, never exceeding 

 a few inches in height. The leaves are aU radical, 

 and the foot-stalks are broadly winged ; at the end 

 of each of these are developed two fleshy, flattened, 

 semicircular lobes, each of which is fringed at the 

 edge with long stiff hairs. In addition, in the centre 

 of each lobe there are three similar hairs, and these 

 are extremely irritable, so that when touched by a 

 fly or any other insect, the lobes suddenly collapse 

 with a spring, the hairs of the margins interlacing 

 each other. When the fly is dead, they open again 



