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the flowers are followed by berries of crimson, 

 white, or blue. Any light rich soil suits them, 

 but there must be free drainage. The Cestrums 

 may be raised from seed, but are best grown 

 from cuttings of young wood, rooted in heat 

 during early spring, or of ripened shoots rooted 

 under a hand-glass in August ; theyoungplants 

 should be well treated, for once starved they 

 are long to recover. A good plan when small 

 neat plants are wanted for winter bloom is to 

 strike cuttings early, grow them on briskly un- 

 til June, then plant out in good soil andasunny 

 spot. Stop them from timetotimeduringsum- 

 mer and, at the end of September, pot them up 

 and place in a greenhouse, where they finish 

 their growth, and on coming into flower make 

 bright little bushes for the house or the con- 

 servatory. The following kinds are known in 

 gardens : — 



G.alaternoides. — A low-growing shrub from 

 the West Indies, bearing in summer inconspi- 

 cuous white flowers in short sessile racemes. A 

 stove evergreen, with leaves tough and glossy. 



Golden Cluster Flower (C. aurantia- 

 cuni) . — A handsome greenhouse shrub, of slen- 

 der upright growth and spreading habit. It is 

 less vigorous and hardy than most of the Ces- 

 trums, rarely growing more than 

 4 to 5 feet high, with dark grey 

 or brownish stems and smooth, 

 bright green leaves. The tubu- 

 lar flowers, coming in August, 

 are of a bright, clear orange, 

 sweetly scented, and borne in up- 

 right clusters at the ends of the 

 shoots, succeeded by small white 

 berries. Guatemala. 



C. corymbosum. — A very handsome green- 

 house evergreen climber of robust growth, 

 with large smooth leaves upon gracefully pen- 

 dant branches, bearing at their tips during 

 summer massive bunches of flowers, rich crim- 

 son or scarlet in colour, and of great beauty. 



White Cluster Flower (C. diurnium). 

 — A shrub of large growth, and smooth pale 

 green leaves, bearing in late autumn clusters of 

 small white flowers, exceedingly fragrant dur- 

 ing the day. Stove. Cuba. 



Crimson Cluster Flower (C elegans). — 

 The best-known kind; a rapid growing shrub 

 of graceful weeping habit, with leaves soft and 



hairy, and the young shoots covered with pur- 

 plish down. The flowers, borne in dense heads, 

 are of a rich crimson or purplish-red, followed 

 by largeshining berries of a pale reddish-violet. 

 The long hanging sprays are beautiful when 

 cut, but droop rather quickly. It isa goodplant 

 for pillars, or the back wall of the conservatory, 

 if not too much shaded. Mexico ; where it 



SCARLET CLUSTER FLOWER. 



abounds in the forests at a height ot 3,000 to 

 5,000 feet. C.argentea is a greenhouse form, the 

 leaves of which are marked with rose, green, 

 and white, in a rather pretty manner. 



Scarlet Cluster Flower (C. fasckula- 

 tum). — Another Mexican species of more up- 

 right habit, stems long and slender, bearing 

 leaves large, broad, and downy, with an un- 



