516 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



inflexed lid ; green with red veins on the upper part ; 

 flowers 3 inches across, red-brown. 



S.Stevensi {purpurea x flava). — One of the finest pitchers, 

 2 feet long, erect ; green, with a reticulation of brown- 

 red. Flowers 6 inches across, the sepals green, the petals 

 crimson outside, cream-coloured within, and the style, 

 which is 3 inches across, bright-green. 



S. variolaris has pitchers 1 foot high, with a broad 

 wing and a hood-like lid ; they are green with a little 

 yellow mottling about the mouth. The flowers are large 

 and pale- primrose coloured. 



S. Williarasi {purpurea x flava). — Pitchers shorter than 

 in S. Stevensi ; flowers are 5 inches across and coloured 

 red-brown on the sepals, rosy-lilac on the long petals, the 

 large disc of the style being green. 



Other good hybrids with characters partaking more 

 or less of both parents are: — S. Swaniana {purpurea* 

 variolaris), S. Wrigleyana {psittacina x Drummondi), 

 S. Tolliana and S. Wilsoniana {purpurea x flava); S. 

 Mitchelliana {Drummondi x purpurea), S. excellens 

 {Drummondi x variolaris), S. Maddisoiiiana, S. Mooreana 

 {Drummondi x flava). 



Streptocarpus. — A race of useful green- 

 house plants, a comparatively recent addition 

 to our gardens. It is of hybrid origin, the 

 introduction of S. Dunnii from the Transvaal 

 to Kew in 1886 having led to various crosses 

 which have had most valuable results, the 

 plants being easy to cultivate, of varied and 

 pleasing floral attractions, and useful in several 

 ways. aS'. Dunnii has only one large leaf, 

 sometimes a yard long and half a yard wide, 

 from the base of which the flowers are pro- 

 duced on crowded erect panicles, quite a sheaf 

 of them; each flower being H inch long 

 and brick-red in colour. It was crossed with 

 S. Rexii, which has numerous small leaves and 

 slender scapes of one or two bluish flowers, the 

 result being the hybrid named & Kewensis. It 

 was also crossed with S. parvijlorus, a white- 

 flowered species of similar habit to S. Rexii, and 

 these two yielded S. Watsoni. These were 

 again crossed with each other and with their 

 parents, the result being a most interesting 

 and promising brood. Their flowers varied in 

 colour from white to crimson and deep-blue. 

 A selection of them passed into the hands of 

 Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, who have since con- 

 tinued to cross and improve them with most 

 gratifying results. They have also crossed the 

 Kew race with various other species, and ob- 

 tained several distinct breaks, i.e. with S. poly- 

 anthus — result, the race known as achimeniflorus 

 (fig. 629); with S. Fanninii — result, the race 

 known as pvlchettus. S. JFendlandii has also 

 been used as a breeder. 



It is remarkable that the colours of most of 

 the seedlings, all perhaps except red, come true 

 from seeds. "With regard to red, the colour 



obtained from S. Dunnii, the seedlings show a 

 tendency to lose that colour, and it is probable 

 that to maintain it among the garden races of 

 the genus, S. Dunnii must be frequently used 

 as a breeder. 



The cultivation of Streptocarpuses presents 

 no difficulties. They may be grown as stove 

 plants along with Gloxinias, or in a frame or 

 greenhouse with Pelargoniums and tuberous Be- 

 gonias. Although they are perennials, the best 

 results are obtained when they are treated as 



Fig. 629.— Streptocarpus achimeniflorus. 



annuals, or at most as biennials, raising a fresh 

 stock annually from seeds sown in heat in 

 February. They may be treated exactly as 

 recommended for Gloxinias, or, if to be grown 

 in a greenhouse or frame, the same course may 

 be followed as is known to succeed in the case 

 of tuberous Begonias. It may not be generally 

 known that these plants are admirably adapted 

 for planting in beds or rockeries under glass, 

 and that they thrive in shaded positions where 

 many plants would fail for want of light. 

 From seeds sown in February good plants, 

 well flowered, are possible by the following 

 August, and these will flower freely and con- 

 tinuously all through the autumn and winter. 

 Exceptionally good varieties may be perpetu- 

 ated by means of leaf-cuttings planted in cocoa- 

 nut fibre in a propagating frame, but as a rule 

 plenty of seeds are ripened on the plants. Any 

 ordinary garden soil may be used for them. 

 If grown in pots, a 5-inch is sufficient for each 

 plant, but nice specimens can be made by plant- 



