ORNAMENTAL STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 375 



Hanging baskets deserve far more notice than they receive 

 as a rule. It matters not whether it be a stove or cool house, 

 there are plenty of selections to suit each case. The Nepenthes^ 

 to which such splendid additions have been made of late years, 

 both by imported species and hybrids, should be grown more 

 extensively for suspending in the stove. They are quite unique 

 and singularly effective, always creating an interest when in 

 good condition. Particular mention should be made of N. Mas- 

 ter siana, which is undoubtedly the finest hybrid yet raised. 

 Asparagus deflexus does not appear to be sufficiently known as a 

 basket plant. It is quite distinct from the kinds usually grown, 

 and equally ornamental. Several Ferns are excellent for the 

 same purpose. Notably so amongst the Maidenhairs is Adiantum 

 amabile ; another good basket Fern is Gymnogramma schizophylla 

 gloriosa. For a cool house in the summer some of the Davallias 

 are well suited. Cheilanthes elegans, although it cannot be con- 

 sidered as one of the best for the purpose, I have found to grow 

 better in a basket than a pot. Amongst flowering plants Hoy a 

 bella is excellent in a warm house, so also are some of the varie- 

 ties of the iEschynanthus and Achimenes when well cared for. 

 In the greenhouse there is an abundant choice, but the merits 

 of Lobelia gracilis do not meet with that recognition which this 

 plant deserves. Basket plants do not at all times receive suffi- 

 cient water, hence they often present but a poor appearance. A 

 plant of singular effect for the stove when well grown is Thyrsa- 

 cantlius rutilans. It is seen to the best advantage when trained 

 as a standard some 3 or 4 feet in height, and producing its 

 long pendulous racemes of scarlet flowers. For the stove, 

 again, there are the Ixoras, which, although met with of 

 specimen size in exhibitions, are not by any means to be con- 

 sidered as being only fit for such purposes. They are, when well 

 cultivated, the finest of all our bush-growing stove plants, being 

 valuable as decorative plants whilst still in quite small pots, and 

 also of the greatest service in a cut state. 



In the arrangement of large conservatories there should be 

 ample scope to make good use of ornamental foliage plants as 

 permanent objects of interest. For my own part, I prefer to see 

 the beds planted out, and on a level, or nearly so, with the floor, 

 having a marginal line of Selaginella denticulata, amongst which 

 small bulbs can be dotted for early flowering. When such beds 



