ON STOVE PLANTS. 687 



instead of spurring them back as with the other sorts. These 

 branches shoot and flower earlier than when treated in the 

 ordinary way. Plants may be raised from cuttings of young 

 shoots taken off with a he'el of the old wood, or from half- 

 ripened shoots in heat under a bell-glass. 



B. glabra has smooth leaves and very pretty rosy-lilac bracts, 

 beautifully veined. The variety Sanderiana is very similar ; it is 

 claimed for the latter that it is much more free-flowering in a 

 young state, and we have seen plants in small pots covered with 

 blossoms. B. lateritia has bracts approaching a brick-red colour, 

 and the branches are thornless. B. spectabilis (sometimes 



B. speciosa) is a very showy kind, with large rosy-pink bracts, 

 and hairy leaves and stems, which are armed with strong thorns. 



Cissus. — Athough several new species have been introduced 

 from time to time, none have been found to approach the beauty 

 of our old favourite C. discolor from Java, so well known to 

 all plant lovers for its handsome velvety-green leaves, charmingly 

 marked with silvery-white and rose on the upper surface and 

 reddish -purple underneath. Its elegant habit, when allowed to 

 festoon the roof and rafters of the hothouse, is very effective. 

 Cuttings are easy to strike, and it grows freely in peat and sand 

 with shade from the noonday sun. 



Clerodendron. — Among the climbing species of this genus, 



C. Balfouri (C. Thomsonim) and C. splendens, both natives of 

 Africa, are deserving a place in all collections. They are not at 

 all fastidious as to soil or treatment, being of easy culture, and 

 readily increased by cuttings of rather firm shoots, which, when 

 rooted, may be grown on in loam, peat, and sand, and trained up 

 the rafters or on , wire trellises. After flowering, and when the 

 shoots are thoroughly matured, the plants may be rather closely 

 pruned back to cause them to break and grow vigorously when 

 the season comes round for starting them again. 



C. Balfouri produces large clusters of flowers, the large pure 

 white inflated calyx forming a pleasing and striking contrast to 

 the bright scarlet tubular corolla, while the protruding pistil and 

 stamens considerably add to the beauty of the inflorescence. 

 C. splendens yields large bunches of bright scarlet flowers which 

 are always much admired. 



Combretum pxjRPUREUM. — This well-known and favourite 

 climbing shrub is a native of Madagascar. It has handsome 

 opposite leaves, with bright scarlet flowers in terminal racemes. 

 Although the individual flowers are small, the large number 

 contained in each raceme, with their long stamens, have an 

 elegant feathery appearance. It is ■ admirably suited for 

 training up columns and walls, along the roof, or on a wire 

 trellis. Cuttings do not root freely. It thrives best when whip- 

 grafted on a free-rooting species, suph as C. Pinceana. Peat, 



