THE BRAZILIAN SPIDER<FLOWERS, 



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beautiful silky foliage is handsome at all 

 seasons, and almost free from insect 

 pests ; thrip is the only one that ever 

 gives trouble, and should be watched 

 for. They are easily increased from cut- 

 tings of young shoots just as they begin 

 to harden, taken after the annual trim- 

 ming of old plants in spring ; if kept 

 close for awhile they root without trou- 

 ble, but need careful watering, suffi- 

 cient air being allowed to dry the silky 

 leaves whenever they have been damped. 



The following species have 

 been introduced, but many of 

 them are only to be found here 

 and there in private gardens, and 

 some have probably gone out of 

 cultivation : — 



T. Benthamiana. — A low rambling 

 shrub with large oblong - lanceolate 

 leaves rounded towards thestem, thick- 

 ly veined, covered above with fine 

 rough down and beneath with soft sil- 

 very hairs. Its branches are light, of a 

 pale brown colour when mature, an- 

 gular/and slightly winged. The flowers, 

 borne in clusters during autumn, are of 

 a rich purple, about 2 inches across, 

 shading to a whitish claw in the cen- 

 tre. Organ Mountains. 



T. elegans. — This beautiful shrub 

 is one of the most gorgeous of green- b 

 house plants, but not often seen in per- 

 fection. It was first flowered at Veitch'sin 1 846, 

 and was for many years well grown by Messrs. 

 Backhouse of York, but it is now rarely met 

 with. Its habit is compact, reaching 6 to 8 

 feet, with short, reddish branches and glossy, 

 strongly-veined leaves of about 2 inches long. 

 The flowers are borne singly and in great 

 abundance during May and June, are over 

 2 inches across, and of a rich blue shading to 

 purple. Organ Mountains. 



T. Gaudichaudiana. — A low shrub, the 

 leaves and stems of which are clothed in soft 

 bristles. Its flowers of rosy-purple appear dur- 

 ingsummer asclusters attheends ofthe shoots. 

 Brazil. 



T. Gayana. — A white-flowered perennial 

 herb growing to a height of 2 to 3 feet with 

 the silky hairiness of leaf common to the genus ; 

 flowers in late autumn and winter. Andes of 

 Peru. 



T. Granulosa. — A strong-growing large- 

 flowered shrub, with thick glossy leaves upon 

 short stems, and handsome flowers of crimson- 

 purple in branched clusters, their petals curv- 

 ing inwards and nearly 3 inches across. Brazil. 

 Syn. Lasiandra Fontanesiana. 



T. heteromalla. — A tall growing shrub, 

 with rambling stems of many feet and large 

 rounded leaves of leathery texture, 6 inches 

 long and covered beneath with whitish down. 



RAZI LI AN SPIDER-FLOWER (TI BOUCHI N A). 



(Engraved for "Flora.") 



The flowers, carried in clusters from July to 

 j October, are purple and about an inch in 

 diameter. 



T. holosericea. — A very fine kind of strong 

 growth, remarkable for the dense silkiness of 

 all its parts, from whence its old name of the 

 Silvery Lasiandra. Its stemless leaves are borne 

 upon angular bristly branches, with flowers of 

 rich purple opening in July. 



T. macrantha. — The best known of the 

 group, and a fine shrub very free in flower 

 when well established, old plants often bearing 

 hundreds of flowers. Coming from a height 

 of several thousand reet in the Andes, it does 

 well in a cool greenhouse, where its growth is 



B 4 



