ON STOVE PLANTS. 



677 



Fig. 440. — Maranta (Calathea) zebrina. 



8odeg. is beneficial, but not absolutely necessary. Water freely 

 during active growth, and remove all flower-stems as they appear, 

 in order to throw all the nourishment into the leaves. During 

 the winter supply 

 only just enough 

 water to keep the 

 leaves from flagging. 

 M. Warscewiczii and 

 M. ( Calathea) zebrina 

 (Fig. 440), also 

 M. major, will 

 thrive very well 

 in a cool stove. 

 The last-named 

 is highly recom- 

 mended for dwelling- 

 house and conserva- 

 tory adornment, 

 enduring without in- 

 jury the dry atmo- 

 sphere and lower 

 temperature. Al- 

 though it has been grown in botanic gardens many years under 

 the name of Ichnosiphon leucophceus, its value as a decorative 

 plant to horticulturists has only been discovered recently ; for 

 the majority of species a hot, moist atmosphere, free from cold 



draughts, is necessary to maintain 

 them in good health. 



Mimosa pudica (Sensitive Plant) 

 is very attractive (Fig. 441) owing 

 to the remarkable sensibility of 

 the foliage. The peculiar manner 

 in which the leaves close up and 

 droop when touched never fails 

 to excite interest. It is a small 

 leguminous shrub with digitately 

 pinnate leaves, native of Tropical 

 America, and succeeds best treated 

 as an annual, sowing the seeds 

 in February or March, and potting 

 the young seedlings off when big 

 enough to handle in sandy peat 

 and loam. This species is far 

 more irritable than M. seusitiva, 

 another stove shrub from the same 

 region, and which succeeds under similar treatment. 



Musa. — The several species of this genus have very handsome 

 foliage and give a tropical effect, where room can be allowed 



Fig. 441. — Mimosa pudica. 



