ON STOVE PLANTS. 693 



confined. Duchesse d'Orleans is another very beautiful variety, 

 the individual flowers somewhat resembling small Gardenias in 

 their texture and purity. J. Sambac and its semi-double form, 

 flore-pleno, are deservedly popular. Other gpod sorts are found 

 in J. azoricum, J. hirsutum, and J. ligustrifolium, all of which 

 will thrive in a cool stove, and yield their sweet white flowers 

 plentifully. 



Manettia. — These are climbing shrubs from Tropical 

 America ; they will thrive in a cool stove or an intermediate 

 house, where they form pretty subjects trained on wire trellises. 

 They may be propagated by cuttings, and grow nicely in equal 

 parts of peat and loam, with a little silver-sand added.' The 

 best sorts are M. bicolor, scarlet and yellow ; M. cordifolia 

 (M. glabra), scarlet ; and M. micans, scarlet. 



Marcgravia. — These curious climbing shrubs, natives of 

 Tropical America, are useful for covering damp walls, to which 

 they cling .closely. M. dubia is sometimes used to train up the 

 door-posts of the hothouse, where its oval-pointed leaves spread 

 out alternately on each side of the stems and always attract 

 attention, by the unusual character of the growth and by the 

 bright, pleasing, rosy colour of the young shoots and leaves. 

 M. paradoxa, with elliptic .deep green leaves, which spread flatly 

 on the surface of a damp wall, covering it with verdure, is another 

 interesting species. Both increase readily from cuttings, and 

 thrive in a peaty soil. 



Oxera pulchella, from New Caledonia, is closely allied to 

 Clerodendron, and succeeds under the treatment recommended 

 for the climbing species of that genus. The large, showy, greenish- 

 white flowers are produced in great abundance in axillary clusters. 

 The long stamens, with golden-yellow anthers extending beyond 

 the funnel-shaped corolla, add considerably to its beauty and 

 attraction. 



Passiflora. — The Passion-flowers are so well known that to 

 describe their characters here would be superfluous. The stove 

 kinds embrace species and varieties of the most brilliant shades 

 of scarlet, rose, white, and blue. They are natives of both the 

 Eastern and the Western Hemispheres, and are most elegant 

 creepers when trained up the rafters and festooned under the 

 roof. Propagation is readily effected by seed or by cuttings, and 

 the plants succeed when planted in loam and peat either with or 

 without bottom-heat. 



P. edulis and P. quadrangularis produce delicious fruits, and 

 several other kinds are edible. The flowers of P. quadrangularis, 

 however, require to be artificially fertilised when grown in our 

 hothouses to cause them to yield fruit. For ornamental purposes 

 we would suggest the following : P. Buonapartea, red, blue, and 

 white ; P. cardinalis, scarlet ; P. Decaisneana, carmine, purple, 



