THE PLANT DECORATION OF APARTMENTS. 277 



suspended vases or baskets. Ehopala eorcovadense is a 

 plant that exhales a somewliat disagreeable odour, but it is 

 nevertheless much sought after, on account of its very 

 elegant and graceful appearance during the development of 

 its young leaves. Hecktia pitcairnifolia is capital for sus- 

 pending in baskets. Tradescantia discolor, Phormium tenax. 

 Rhododendrons, Camellias, Grevillea robusta, Euonymus, 

 Aucubas, Bonapartea, Agaves, variegated Yuccas, &c., are 

 also frequent. In ad- 

 dition to the common 

 Saxifraga sarmentosa, 

 which is frequently seen 

 "with its slender nmners 

 pendant from window 

 baskets in England, 

 several other allied spe- 

 cies would prove equally 

 useful in the same way 

 — ^Saxifraga Fortunei ^ 

 variegata, and S. cus- 

 cutseformis, for exam- 

 ple. 



The family of Ferns, 

 although classed among 

 plants with delicate tis- 

 sues, and having a great 

 dislike to dry hot at- 

 mospheres, nevertheless 

 furnishes numerous ex- 

 amples which, with 

 careful management, add very much to the beauty of 

 apartments. Thus I have very frequently remarked several 

 species of Adiantum, which, wherever they can be preserved 

 in good health, produce without doubt a most pleasing 

 effect. Pteris argjrraea, P. cretica albo lineata, and P. ser- 

 rulata variegata likewise produce a good effect with their 

 prettily marked fronds. Alsophila australis and Dicksonia 

 antarctica are also sometimes employed for decorative pur- 

 poses in rooms of large dimensions, where their magnificent 



Fig. 115. 



Maranta vittata. 



