PROPAGATION BY LEAVES. 



2G1) 



young bulbs were formed on the edge of the cut above ground as well as below. 

 I tried cuttings of the stem of some species of Lilium, and obtained bulbs at 

 the axil of the leaf, as well as from the scales of the bulb ; and that practice 

 has been since much resorted to by gardeners, though I believe it originated 

 with me. I raised a great number of bulbs of the little plant which has 

 been successively called massonia, scilla, and hyacinthus corymbosus, by 

 setting a pot full of its leaves, and placing a bell-glass over them for a short 

 time. A bulb was obtained with equal facility from a leaf of a rare species 

 of Eucomis ; and experiments with the leaves of Lachenalias were equally 

 successful. I apprehend that all liliaceous bulbs may be thus propagated ; 

 but the more fleshy the leaf, the more easily the object will be attained." 

 {Gard. Chron., for 1841, p. 881.) 



G14. Rooting leaves and parts of leaves in powdered charcoal. Leaves and 

 parts of leaves of the following plants were rooted in charcoal, by M. Lucas, 

 of Munich, in 1389. Half-leaves of Piereskm, Polianthes mexicana Zuccar.^ 

 and leaves of iJuphorbm fastuosa, in a short time filled their pots so full of 

 roots that they were obliged to be repotted. 



In from eight to fourteen days leaves of Cecropm palmata, O'xalis mandi- 

 occdna^ O. purpilrea, £'uph6rbm fastuosa, Cyclamen indicum, Lophospermum 

 scandens, Martyna craniolaria, Begoma monoptera, B. bulbifera, Ipomoe'a 

 superba, I. spec, e Corcovado, Mesembryanthemum tigrinum, G^snera 

 latifolia, G. atrasangulnea, Sinningm guttata, Piper piereskiip/o/iwrn, all sorts 

 of Gloxinia, even calices and mere flower-stems, pieces of leaves of Convol- 

 vulus Batatas^ Peu*eskia grandifolia, Polianthes mexicana, and warts of the 

 large- warted mammillaria. 



In three weeks the tops of the leaves of Agave americana fol. var., leaves 

 of Jacardnda brasiliensis, bundles of leaves of Pinus excelsa, leaves of 

 Mimosa Houstom, and Cyperu* vaginatus. 



In five weeks, whole and half -cut folioles of Encephalartos cafffer and 

 Zamia integrifolia produced a number of roots from the surface of the cuts. 



Many leaves have not yet made roots, but for a considerable time have 

 formed callosities; such as iaurus nitida, Bignoma Telfain'te, Carolinea 

 princeps, Ardisiae, Gardenj^F, Adansdnm digitata, Dracae'na, &c. As expe- 

 riments that did not succeed, we may mention portions of the leaves of 

 Amaryllis and Crinum, of ferns, of tropical Orchidese, of Dasylirion and 

 Hechtz'a, Tillandsza, Panddnus^ Phormium tenax, of tropical tuberous- 

 rooted JroidesB, old leaves of the Agave, and some others which, partly 

 through rotting by wet, or other mischances, were prevented from growing, 



615. Leaves with the buds in the axils root freely in the case of many 

 species. The buds and leaves are cut out with a small portion of the bark 

 and alburnum to each, and planted in sandy loam, so deep as j^ust to cover 

 the bud ; the soil being pressed firmly against it, and the back of the leaf 

 resting on the surface of the soil. Covered with a bell-glass and placed 

 on heat, in a short time the buds break through the suiface of the soil, 

 and elongate into shoots. The late Mr. Knight tried this mode with 

 double camellias, magnolias, metrosideros, agaoias, neriums, rhododendrons, 

 and many others, some of which rooted and niade shoots the same season, 

 and others not till the following spring. 



616. Immature fruits have even hsexi made to produce plants,. M. Thouin 

 planted fruits of the Opuntia Turia^ which were about three fourths ripe, 

 with their peduncles entire, in pots of sand almost dry, and covered them 



