22 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



in a small house ; and to attempt to grow it in a pot is 

 about as unreasonable as to attempt to raise eagles in canary 

 cages. 



There are times when " comparisons are odious ; " in 

 the present ease they might be ridiculous, for there is no 

 plant at our command that could be put before, or even 

 beside, this magnificent beauty; for even the lapageria, 

 lovely as it is, becomes nothing when we have seen Tac- 

 sonia Fan, Folmemi in a thorough state of prosperity in a 

 great conservatory, where it is quite at home. 



All the passion-flowers and tacsonias are natives of 

 South America ; and although a certain number are strictly 

 tropical, not a few of the most beautiful are met with in 

 temperate regions. M. Van Volxem, a Belgian amateur, 

 met with this plant in a garden at Bogota, whence it was 

 taken to Belgium in the year 1858, and very soon there- 

 after made its way into many European gardens. It has 

 been found also in the Quindiu Andes, at high altitudes. 

 It was probably first flowered in this country in the Exeter 

 Nurseries of Messrs. Lueombe, Pince, and Co., for Sir 

 Joseph Hooker was indebted to that firm for the first plant 

 presented to the Royal Gardens, Kew, from which the first 

 figure published in this country was prepared, to make 

 known the wonder unto many {B. M. } 5,571). 



Its comparative hardiness is no matter for surprise, for 

 M. Van Volxem reports that it resists a temperature of 

 freezing-point in its native country ; but it should never be 

 exposed to a condition so severe in cultivation, for as a 

 matter of fact, no plant is so hardy under cultivation as 

 when living its own life and managing its own affairs. 

 The grandest example that we have seen of this plant is 

 in a great conservatory used for a store-room for giant 



