554 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



not unlike P. Raddiana 

 deliciously fragrant. 



Paullinia thalictrifolia 



but with lilac-purple flowers, 

 A graceful little scandent 



Fig. 877.— Passiflora racemosa. 



shrub, with thin stems bearing numerous leaves as ele- 

 gantly divided as Adiantuvi cuncatum. It may be grown 

 on a small trellis or pillar, or if kept pinched in, it forms 

 an elegant pot-shrub. Loam and peat. Cuttings. 



Pavetta borbonica. — A beautiful erect-growing plant, 

 with long stout shining leaves, the ground colour pale- 

 green, mottled with blackish - green ; midrib pale-red. 

 Peat. Cuttings. 



Pellionia. — A small genus of the Xettle family, but 

 the relationship is evident only in the flowers, the stems 

 being trailing, and the leaves ovate, fleshy, smooth, and 

 prettily marked with gray and metallic - green. P. 

 Ihircauana and P. pidchra are worth a place in any 

 stove. Cuttings. 



Pentas carnea. — A soft-wooded shrub of low spreading 

 habit, free-growing, and producing abundant corymbs of 

 pretty lavender-coloured flowers at any time of year. 

 Loam. Cuttings. 



Peperomia aryyrcea. — A dwarf soft-wooded plant, with 

 circular or ovate fleshy leaves, coloured bright -green 

 blended with silvery-gray. Peat. Cuttings. 



Philodendron. — Aroids of trailing or scandent habit, 

 some of them with very large foliage, others small and 

 variegated. Excellent for clothing pillars and walls in 

 large houses, or for draping stems or rafters. The best 

 are P. Andrcanum (fig. 678), P. Corsianum, pale-green 

 and bronze; P. Carderi (verrncosum), P. crinitum (squami- 

 ferum), P. erubescens, P. gloriosum, P. laciniosum (qiterci- 

 folium), P. Mamei, P. Martineti, P. ornatum, P. Selloum, 

 and P. Wallisii. They like shade, plenty of moisture and 

 heat. Some of them have large handsome flowers. 



Phyllanthus. — Pinnate-leaved shrubs which produce 

 their small white or reddish flowers along the margins of 

 the leaflets. There are many species, all easy to grow in 

 an ordinary stove. The best are P. angustifolius y 

 with long leaflets coloured dark- green; P. epiphyllan- 

 thus (falcatus), leaflets lanceolate, rather rigid; P. 

 latifolius, leaflets ovate, leathery; P. pulcher (Reidia 

 glaucescens), leaves herbaceous, pale-green ; and P. 

 nivosus, leaves glaucous -green. Cuttings. 



Phyllot^entum, or Xanthosoma Lindeni, is like 

 an Alocasia, but has thicker sagittate leaves, bright- 

 green, with broad silvery bands along the midrib 

 and veins. It likes plenty of heat and moisture and 

 an open peaty soil. 



Pitcairnea. — A large genus of Bromeliaceae with 

 tufted foliage, usually long and grass-like, and long, 

 arching, branched scapes of red, white, or yellow 

 tubular flowers. Peat and leaf-mould. Seeds or 

 division. Some of the best species are P. albiflos, 

 P. angustifolia, P. aphelandrceflora, P. corallina, P. 

 maidifolia, P. muscosa, P. recurvata, P. Roezlii, P. 

 staminea, and P. xanthocalyx. 



Plumbago rosea. — An erect slender grower, with 

 large leaves ; the flowers, in erect panicles, of a deep 

 rose-red colour, produced in winter; very free. The 

 variety superba has deeper-coloured flowers. P. 

 capensis and the variety alba are also useful in the 

 stove. Loam. Cuttings. 



Poinsettia. See p. 489. 



Posoqueria. — Shrubs, related to Gardenia. They 

 have ovate fleshy leaves, and terminal clusters of 

 handsome tubular white flowers. P. latifolia [macro- 

 phylla) is worth a place in a roomy stove. Loam. 

 Cuttings. 



Fig. 678.— Philodendron Andreanum. 



Rondeletta speciosa. — A compact, small-leaved bush, 

 bearing bright-red bunches of Verbena-like flowers in 

 June, and lasting two months. Peat and loam. Cuttings. 



