M ELOWEES AKD THE FLOWER GAEDET^. 



convenient and valuable appliances, can enhance its 

 beauty and the gaiety of its appearance by keeping 

 such of these recherche plants as space and the heat they 

 can keep up will enable them to manage. A great num- 

 ber of them require a summer heat of from 65° to 80°, 

 or even 90", and winter heat 55° to 70°, or 75°. 



The Calathea zehrina^ Maranfa zehrina, or Zebra Plant 

 of Brazil, with its magnificent stout velvet-like leaves, 

 two feet long and six inches wide, beautifully streaked 

 from the midrib to the margin, is a leading favourite 

 among handsome foliage plants. The flower springs from 

 the root in a spike, and is a rich purple, shaded with red 

 and white. Of similar kind, and similar also in richness 

 of colour, are the Maranta vittata and Mar ant a alba 

 lineatv, both having leaves handsomely streaked with 

 white on green. The Maranta fasciata has a broader 

 leaf with a bolder stripe ; in Maranta regalis the leaves 

 are striped with bright red lines on the surface, and they 

 have a red tinge beneath. Maranta JBorteana has smooth 

 shining oblong sharp-pointed leaves, striped with white 

 on the upper surface, and tinged with purple beneath. 

 The Maranta pardina has splendid pale green leaves, 

 from ten to fifteen inches long, and from four to six 

 inches wide, with numerous dark square streaky mark- 

 ings ; it has a pretty yellow flower, the most showy of 

 any of the tribe. The Maranta raicans is the smallest of 

 any ; and is, when well grown, a sweet little gem. The 

 leaves are dark green, with an elegant feathery glossy 

 stripe down the centre of each. The plant should be 

 placed near the glass, but shaded from the sun. The Ma- 

 ranta Warsewiczii is a strong evergreen, as handsome, 

 showy, and as easy to grow as Maranta zehrma. Its 

 noble leaves are two feet long and six inches wide, on a 

 stem a foot high; they are a rich dark green, with a 

 feathery pattern of pale green running up the centre. 



These beautiful plants require a temperature of from 

 60° to 80° in summer, and from 50° to 65" m winter, 

 some requiring rather more heat than others. They 

 may be grown in a compost of fibry loam, sandy peaa 

 silver sand, a little well decomposed cow mantur,. 



