200 SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOE THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



able from any trace of raggedness, the erect shoots growing 

 away till the end of the season in our climate. Doubtless, 

 there is a point at which in their native country seediness 

 does arrive, but with us they, like the Ricinus of one 

 summer, always look fresh and young, and are most appro- 

 priate for forming 

 luxuriant masses of 

 foliage in the flower 

 garden, and for di- 

 versifying its as- 

 pect. P. grandis 

 is best known in 

 this country, and is 

 second to no other 

 plant for its digni- 

 fied and finished 

 efi'ect in the flower 

 garden; but P. py- 

 ramid alis is also 

 good and distinct. 

 They are easily 

 struck from cut- 

 tings taken, from 

 old plants and put 

 in heat in spring. 

 Like most large soft 

 Poljmnia grandis. growing things in 



this way, they are 



best planted out in a young state, so as to insure a fresh and 

 unstinted growth. P. pyramidalis is the newest of the group 

 and that least known in cultivation. I saw it several times 

 during the past season in Paris. The leaves are not so large 

 as those of the other species, and differ in shape, being nearly 

 cordate, but the growth is vigorous and the habit distinct. It 

 pushes up a narrow pyramidal head of foliage to a height 

 of nearly ten feet in Paris gardens, and will be found to do 

 well in the south of England. 



Phormium tenax (the New Zealand Flax). — This is tole- 

 rably well known among us as a greenhouse and conservatory 



Fig. 71. 



