CYPERUS PAPYRUS, ORYZA SATIVA. 



357 



strong, ricli loam. After this the tub was kept nearly full of -^ ater, to 

 allow the leaves to float, and was thus maintained until they had risen 

 between eighteen and twenty inches in height ; the water was then 

 reduced, by allowing it gradually to escape through the staves, the top 

 hoops being slackened on pui-pose, until it was lowered to nearly the 

 surface of the mould. Fresh water was supphed every evening, and 

 allowed thus to di'ain off dming the growth and flowering of the plants ; 

 and as the leaves and flowers died away gradually, so was the water 

 reduced, until the tub became nearly dry." 



CYPERUS PAPYRUS, OR PAPYRUS AXTiaUORUM. 



This plant is less ornamental in its flowering than any of the plants 

 above treated of : it is also of much easier culture, requiring only to be 

 planted in a cistern, deep pan, or tub, kept moist, and is readily increased 

 by separation at the roots. 



ORYZA SATIVA 



Is more a plant of curiosity than beauty. Its seeds should be sown 

 immediately after they are ripe, and immersed in water, for they soon 

 lose their vegetative properties if left exposed to the air. 



All the aquaric plants we have treated of, with the exception of the 

 Cyperus papyi^is, which attains too great a height, may be and are all cul- 

 tivated successfully in pits and frames heated by dung linings. In this 

 way the late Kent, of Clapton, the venerable curator of the Chelsea 

 Botanical Gai'den, while gardener to J. Vere, Esq., of Kensington Gore, 

 and others, have grown them, the plants being planted in small cisterns, 

 deep tubs, and pans, plunged in tan ; and by this plan any person at all 

 curious in such plants may flower them in great perfection. Indeed, the 

 whole tribe seems to prefer a close, moist heat, such as that produced 

 from fermentable matter, and to be placed near to the light, which is 

 more readily effected in pits or frames than in houses generally. 



The Papynis antiquoimm is a plant of great antiquity, and afforded 

 the material from which the ancient Egyptians made paper, " which was 

 obtained from the pelhcle found between the flesh and the bark of the 

 thick part of the stalk, ribbons of which were united till they formed 

 the size required, and were then pressed and dried in the sun." 



For culture of Nepenthes distillatoria, see Orchide.e House. 



