176 ORNAMENTAL fOLUQB PLANTS. 



growths must be pinolied out to induce the lateral eyes to 

 break. It is a species which must always take first rank 

 in any collection of ornamental foliage plants. It has 

 bloomed in this country, bearing a large branching panicle 

 of small insignificant flowers. Native of Tropical America. 

 G. spectandrum. — ^A very handsome plant, with large 

 oval leaves, measuring from ten to twenty inches in 

 length, and from four to seven in breadth in its widest 

 part ; the upper surface is of a rich dark velvety green, the 

 mid-rib being margined with metallic grey; the under 

 side is pale green, tinged with red, ribs promine^it. A very 

 distinct and handsome species, from Tropical Ameriqa. 



Ctcas. 



These plants are handsome in appearance, and exceed- 

 ingly useful either for stove, greenhouse, or conservatory 

 decoration, and also for the embellishment of the sub- 

 tropical garden in summer. The order GyeadeacecB is 

 closely related to the Conifers and Ferns, and judging 

 from their fossil remains, it would seem that they formed 

 a considerable portion of the vegetation of this country in 

 earlier ages. These plants should be grown in strong 

 loam and river sand, and the pots should be well drained 

 to prevent any stagnant water remaining about their roots. 

 They may be increased by seeds, and also by suckers, 

 which they occasionally throw up. 



G. ciremalis. — This is undoubtedly the finest species of 

 the present genus. It rises upon a stout cylindrical stem 

 as it attains age, although, as in all the other members of 

 this order, the stems increase in size very slowly. The 

 male plant has a somewhat slender stem, and is frequently 

 twice and three times divided, but we have never seen a 

 female plant with "a divided stem. The leaves of 0. 



