PHLO'x. 



12 



PHOTINIA. 



P. subulata seldom exceeds three 

 inches in length, and it produces its 

 beautiful flesh-coloured flowers from 

 April to June. P. canadensis has 

 blue flowers, which are produced in 

 April and May, and it grows almost 

 one foot in height. P. divaricata 

 produces light blue flowers from April 

 to June, and grows about the same 

 height as the former species. P. 

 ovdta and P. ovata Listoniana grow 

 about one foot high, and produce 

 purple flowers from May to August, 

 and P. pilbsa grows about one foot iu 

 height, and produces its pink flowers 

 in May and June. There are above a do- 

 zen other species equally low in growth 

 and prolific in flowers in spring or iu 

 the beginning of summer ; and there 

 are a number of species which grow 

 from two to four feet in height, and 

 flower in July, August, and Septem- 

 ber. Of these may be mentioned 

 P. paniculata alba, and paniculata 

 rubra ; P. acuminata, which grows 

 four feet high and produces pink 

 flowers from May to August. P. }>y- 

 ramidalis and its several varieties, 

 P. latifolia and P. maculata, grow 

 four feet high, and produce pink or 

 red flowers from July to September; 

 and P. muWflorus, which has a long 

 spike of white flowers about a foot and 

 a half high, flowers nearly all the sum- 

 mer. The only annual species is P. 

 Drummondii and its varieties, which 

 are plants of surpassing beauty raised 

 annually from seeds or cuttings in light 

 sandy soil, and admirably adapted for 

 covering flower-beds or growing in 

 pots. When raised from seeds, this 

 species should be treated like a ten- 

 der annual ; and after being raised in 

 a hotbed in February or March, it 

 should be turned out into the open 

 garden about the middle of May ; 

 or it may be sown in April or May 

 in the open ground. In fine seasons 

 it ripens seeds; but where it does not, 

 it may be preserved through the win- 



ter by striking cuttings in autumn, 

 and preserving them in pots placed on 

 the front shelf of a greenhouse or in a 

 frame. The varieties vary from pur- 

 ple to light rose, and generally come 

 true from seed. On the whole, the 

 genus Phlox is one of the most beauti- 

 ful of herbaceous plants, and a garden 

 ought to be no more without some 

 of the species than it ought to be 

 without roses or bulbs. 



Phcbnix. — Palmece. — P. dactylU 

 fera, the Date Palm, is a well-known 

 stove plant, which should be grown 

 in a sandy loam. Young plants may 

 be raised from the stones of the dates 

 sold in the shops, and if kept in suffi- 

 cient heat they will grow freely ; 

 though the trees must be of consider- 

 able age and size before they bear 

 fruit. 



Phormium. — AsphodelecB. — P. 

 tenax, the New Zealand flax, is a 

 very singular plant, with large 

 bunches of orange flowers, and very 

 long, broad, lily-like leaves, the fibres 

 of which are so strong, that they are 

 used in ISew Zealand for making 

 baskets, and various other articles in 

 their coarse state, and in the same 

 manner as flax for making sails, &c. 

 In England the plant is at present 

 rare, but it may be grown in a green- 

 house in a very rich sandy loam fre- 

 quently watered ; the principal objec- 

 tion to its culture being the great size 

 of its leaves, which occupy too much 

 space for it to be grown in a small 

 house. 



Photinia. — Rosacea. — A very 

 beautiful evergreen shrub or low tree, 

 formerly called Crataegus glabra, 

 which is nearly hardy, but thrives 

 best when trained against a wall in a 

 sheltered situation. The soil should 

 be sandy loam ; and the plants are 

 propagated sometimes by cuttings of 

 the ripened wood, but more fre- 

 quently by grafting or inarching on 

 some of the hardy kinds of Crataegus. 



