3 16 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



leaves about 

 6in. long and 

 d r o o p i n g 

 clusters of deep 

 lilac - coloured 

 blossoms. S. 

 Wendlandi is 

 altogether a 

 more vigorous 

 plant than the 

 other, the in- 

 dividual blooms 

 being about 2in. 

 in diameter and 

 the flattened 

 clusters i f t . 

 across. The 

 colour of the 

 flowers is adeep 

 lilac-blue. They 

 are borne in the 

 summer. 



Steph an otis 

 floribunda. 



— This, which 

 was introduced 

 from Madagas- 

 car in 1S29, is 

 one of the most 

 popular of all 

 stove climbing 

 plants, t s 

 clusters of ivory 

 white highly 

 fragrant blos- 

 soms being ad- 

 mired by every- 

 one. It is a 

 free - growing 

 /limber that 

 according to the 

 treatment given 

 may be had in 

 bloom at dif- 

 ferent times of 

 the year. It is 

 not at all a difficult plant to propagate from cuttings 

 of the short-jointed shoots taken off at a length 

 of about 4in. in the spring and put into small pots of 

 sandy soil, which should be plunged in a gentle bottom 

 heat in the stove and covered with a small frame or bell- 

 glass. When rooted they may be shifted on. If plants 



have an unin- 

 terrupted run at 

 the roots they 

 will grow 

 vigorously, but 

 seldom flower 

 freely. Hence 

 if planted out 

 the space 

 allotted to the 

 roots should be 

 portioned off. 

 A suitable soil 

 for the 

 Stephanotis is 

 a mixture of 

 turfy loam and 

 peat, with a 

 liberal sprink- 

 ling of sand. 

 The shoots 

 should be 

 trained near the 

 glass, as such a 

 position, being 

 well exposed to 

 the light, con- 

 duces greatly to 

 the formation of 

 flower buds. 

 After the season 

 of blooming is 

 over, the plant 

 may be kept 

 somewhat dryer 

 than usual at its 

 roots for a few 

 weeks before 

 starting again. 

 No pruning is 

 need (1 to assist 

 I lie production 

 of flowers, but 

 w h e n suffi- 

 ciently large the 

 weak and ex- 

 hausted woi id may be cut out. The Stephanotis is 

 particularly liable to the attacks of mealy bug, which 

 may be destroyed by washing the plants with Gishurstine. 

 Thunberg'ia. — The Thunbergias requiring a stove are for 

 the most part vigorous-growing climbers that need a large 

 structure and a fair amount of sunshine to flower them well. 



CARNIVOROUS PLANTS. 



THESE are strange plants that possess the power of entrapping insects, either by means of 

 a glutinous substance or by the leaf shutting up and enclosing them. In others, again, the 

 leaves develop into somewhat the shape of a horn, with the mouth uppermost, and the 

 stiff hairs with which the throat is furnished all point downwards, so that though easy 

 enough for an insect to enter its exit is rendered impossible. The most noted kinds are : 



DarlingtOnia ealifornica, sometimes called the Cobra furnished with a small drop of glutinous matter on the 



tip, so that directly a fly settles on the leaf it is made 

 prisoner. A second species, D. dichotoma, is Australian. 

 Nepenthes {Pitcher Plants). — These are loose-growing 

 shrubs, most of which have long leaves, beyond which 

 the midrib extends, and serves to support a peculiar urn 

 or pitcher, which forms the termination of the leaf. These 

 pitchers are furnished with a lid which shut at first opens 

 after a time. Hairs, bristles, and an excessively slippery 

 portion around the mouth all prevent the escape 

 of any insect that has fallen into the pitcher. 

 Sarraeenia. — The Side Saddle Plants, as these are called, 

 inhabit the swamps of Georgia and Florida, so that they 

 need only the protection of a greenhouse. The pitchers 

 are marked in many ways, but all are beautiful. 



Plant, from the resemblance which the curiously-hooded 

 leaves or pitchers bear to that venomous snake. They 

 are green, mottled with white and veined red. 



Dioncea museipula {Venus 's Fly 'J rap) has circular 

 leaves, furnished around the edges with long hairs. On 

 either side of the midrib, towards the centre, are three 

 short bristles, and on either of these being touched the 

 two lobes fly up like a trap, the long hairs at the edges 

 interlocking with each other and thus effectually pre- 

 venting the escape of any fly that may have caused the 

 disturbance. When the insect is dead the leaf graduallv 

 reopens. This is plentiful in the marshes of Florida. 



Drosera rotundifolia (our native Sundew) has its little 

 round leaves studded with red hairs, each of which is 



