THE STOVE OR TROPICAL PLANT HOUSE. 



713 



culture, and readily propagated by cuttings or 

 imported seeds. 



Euphoria Litchi, Lee-Chee ; E. Longana, Lon- 

 gan, are amongst the best fruits of China. E. 

 Nephelium, E. verticillata, natives of the East 

 Indies, are also much esteemed; they are all 

 readily propagated by cuttings, layers, or seed, 

 and are of easy culture. 



Ficus Brassii, large fig of Sierra Leone, the 

 fruit of which is of excellent quality, and pro- 

 duced in abundance on the old wood, is a plant 

 of easy culture, and not uncommon in collec- 

 tions, but being prevented from attaining a 

 proper size, seldom produces fruit in this coun- 

 try. Like all the genus, readily increased by 

 cuttings. 



Garcinia Mangostana, Mangosteen ; G. Gam- 

 hogia, gamboge; G. cornea, G. Cowa. — The man- 

 gosteen is a fruit held in high esteem by all who 

 have resided in India, combining much of the 

 flavour of the strawberry and the grape. The 

 whole genus are readily propagated by cuttings, 

 and also by seeds, which, however, should be 

 sown as soon as possible after they are ripe, as 

 they do not long retain their vegetative proper- 

 ties. Seeds sown in soil , in a Wardian case in 

 India, and immediately transmitted to Europe, 

 arrive either when slightly germinated, or, 

 should vegetation have farther advanced, the 

 plants will, in general, be found healthy and in 

 good condition. Young plants transported in 

 close cases seldom suffer much during the 

 voyage. 



Grias cauliflora (Anchovy pear) requires a 

 -sandy rich soil, and is propagated by cuttings 

 or imported seeds. 



Lucuma mammosa, L. Bonplandii, L. omta, 

 and L. salicifolia, are nearly related to Achras, 

 and require the same treatment. 



Mangifera indica, mango. — Of this excellent 

 fruit several varieties exist naturally, and two 

 have fruited in this country — namely, the red 

 and yellow Powis mangoes. It is propagated by 

 cuttings, and these should be taken from trees 

 of approved varieties, as, like the apple and pear, 

 many sorts are not worth cultivation. 



Musa chinensis, dwarf or Chinese plantain, 

 (Sweet) , Cavendishii (Paxt., Mag. of Boh); M. para- 

 disiaca, common plantain; M. sapientum, banana; 

 M. Dacca, and several others, are of easy cul- 

 ture, requiring a rich soil and abundance of 

 root-room. They fruit freely, and are propa- 

 gated by subdivision, young stems being pro- 

 duced as the older or fruit-bearing ones attain 

 their full growth. 



Psidium, (guava), a genus of low-growing 

 trees, P. Cattleyanum, only a few of them exceed- 

 ing 10 or 12 feet in height. The whole are 

 much esteemed for their fruit when in a ripe 

 state, and the delicious guava jelly is also pre- 

 pared from them. They are of the easiest cul- 

 ture, and fruit freely in any ordinary stove, and 

 may be readily increased by cuttings or by seeds, 

 either imported or ripened in this country. 



Passiflora eduius, P. maliformis, P. quadran- 

 gularis, P. alata, and P. laurifolia, produce fruit 

 of peculiar excellence, and generally known as 

 granadilles. They are easily multiplied by seed, 

 which are produced in considerable abundance. 



They are free-growing climbing plants, and 

 therefore should occupy the roof of the tropical- 

 fruit stove. They will set their fruit more readily 

 if assisted artificially by transferring the pollen, 

 upon the point of a camel's-hair pencil, to the 

 pistil, which is large, and situated in the centre 

 of the flower. 



Palms require abundance of space both for 

 their roots and also for the full development of 

 their leaves. Their culture is by no means diffi- 

 cult, so long as they enjoy a powerful humid 

 heat and sufficient space — involving, in fact, 

 more the question of expense than that of 

 science. Most of them are found to luxuriate 

 naturally when growing by the margins of springs 

 and streams. Only one of them of which we 

 are aware inhabits the sea-shore, and that is the 

 double-fruiting cocoa-nut, known as the Cocos- 

 de-mer, a variety of Cocos nucifera, or common 

 cocoa-nut. Some are found in the alpine regions 

 of their country; some are gregarious, existing 

 in large groups; while others are scattered about, 

 singly or in clusters, among woods and plains. 

 Some of them, such as Rhapis flabelliformis, 

 increase by division of the roots ; others, as 

 Chamosrops humilis, C. serrulata, and some of the 

 Zamias, propagate themselves by suckers, and 

 some by scales, but by far the greater number 

 are only to be increased by seed. The cultiva- 

 tion of palms is mainly confined to strictly bota- 

 nical establishments ; our remarks, therefore, on 

 them are thus necessarily brief. 



General collection of stove or tropical plants. — 

 The amount of light which plants, not actually 

 inhabiting the shade of impenetrable jungles, 

 enjoy in the tropics, is so much greater than we 

 can accommodate them with in our ordinarily 

 constructed plant-houses, leads us, in the first 

 place, to remark, that the want of complete suc- 

 cess in cultivation is more to be attributed to 

 imperfect structures than a deficiency of skill 

 in their cultural details. Houses, therefore, for 

 them, should be of the most light and airy de- 

 scription possible. They should be of glass on 

 all sides, and that extended to within 2 or not 

 more than 3 feet of the ground. An equable 

 distribution of heat and air, and a command of 

 moisture, are equally important. A judicious 

 selection of plants is the next important consi- 

 deration ; for it will always be found that a 

 limited number of species, if really good, will 

 afford much more satisfaction than a long cata- 

 logue of sorts, many of which seldom if ever 

 flower; and others, should they do so, are almost 

 devoid of interest, from the paucity and insigni- 

 ficance of their blooms, and want of elegance of 

 character in the plant. It is not now the number 

 of species, but the excellence of the culture, and 

 the continued display maintained throughout 

 the whole year, that constitutes perfection in 

 plant management; and next to this is the neat- 

 ness and order exhibited in their arrangement 

 and keeping. 



It formerly was the prevailing practice to grow 

 the majority of stove-plants plunged in tan-beds, 

 or other material, in a pretty high state of fer- 

 mentation. Modern practice has set aside this, 

 unless in some few extraordinary cases, and 

 either places the plants on platforms or stages 



