THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
LEAF PROPAGATION. 
This method of increasing plants is available in 
many cases when seeds are unobtainable and when 
ordinary stem cuttings are either useless or not to be 
had. Quite recently we hear that Hyacinths may be 
readily increased by leaf-cuttings, and the same 
practice has also been successful in the case of 
Hippeastrums and other Amaryllids, Begonias, many 
Melastomads, Gloxinias, and other Gesnerads ; Hoyas, 
Bryophyllums, and other succulent plants are best 
multiplied in this manner, and this is especially the 
case with some Echeverias, Pachyphytums, and Sem- 
pervivums of various kinds. Leaf propagation has 
also proved very successful in the case of Cephaelis 
Ipecacuanha in the Indian plantations, where it is 
now extensively grown, and this method of in¬ 
crease is a valuable auxiliary to the root or 
rhizome propagation devised so successfully by 
Mr. James M‘Nab in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden 
a few years ago. Apart from the plants which are 
now known to be easily multiplied by leaf-cuttings, 
there are doubtless many others which might be 
increased in quantity by this simple method, if 
experiments were made with them. Leaf-cuttings of 
Fuchsias, for example, root very readily, as do also 
Hoya and AEschynanthus leaves; and when we go a 
step farther and include the petiole with the axillary 
bud at its base, and a slice of the bark of the old stem, 
then we find that Roses, Zonal, and show Pelargoni¬ 
ums, Ficus elastica, and its allies, and very many other 
Exogenous plants, may be readily increased in this 
manner. Even the modified petiole or leaf-stalk has, 
in many Endogenous plants, the power to multiply 
the plant from which it is taken, as in the scales 
of Lily and other similar bulbs, or the pseudobulbs of 
many Orchids. Among the Cycads, again, the scale- 
like bases of the petioles which clothe the stem, will 
develop their latent buds, and thus form plants if 
removed and placed in a gentle bottom-heat. A 
Begonia leaf may be pegged down on a pan of light 
sandy soil, before which the principal veins have been 
nicked or slit with a sharp knife, and it is at these 
slits and at the base of the leaf where it was severed 
from the plant that a conglomeration of thickened 
or descending sap is formed, and from whence the 
young plants have their origin. Perhaps the best 
example of spontaneous leaf propagation is that 
afforded by the leaves of Bryophyllum which, on 
falling from the plant on to a moist surface, develop 
their marginal buds into young plants ; indeed, we 
have seen this happen when the leaf has been 
suspended in the window by a thread, but the young 
plants soon cease to thrive unless they are placed in a 
more suitable position, so that they are enabled to root 
and obtain nourishment from the soil. 
OLD-FASHIONED TABLE BOUQUETS. 
These used to be made up of sweet-scented flowers 
and fragrant leafy spray, but unfortunately they are 
now so much things of the past that the sight of one 
would be quite a relief compared with the densely- 
packed, Mushroom-shaped bouquets of our own time. 
The old posy chiefly consisted of a handful of bright 
flowers and fresh green leaves, while one of its 
principal charms was the total absence of all the so- 
called modern art of the bouquetiste in its arrange¬ 
ment. No delicate blossoms from conservatory and 
greenhouse were there, but in their places we had 
Clove Pinks, Carnations, White Lilies, Sweet Williams, 
Scarlet Fuchsias, sprays of Honeysuckle and branches 
of fragrant Rosemary, Southernwood, and Sweet 
Briar, intermixed with Moss Rose buds and Cabbage 
Roses. These were arranged as they were cut, a 
rose bud here, and a spray of Mignonette or Jasmine 
there, each flower having a fair accompaniment of its 
own foliage, so that colour was balanced and toned 
down by fresh greenery. In an arrangement such as 
this, individuality of form was well brought out, and a 
graceful combination was the result. 
MYRSIPHYLLUM ASPARAGOIDES. 
This plant, which is a native of the Cape of Good 
Hope, though seldom well grown in English gardens, 
is nevertheless one of the most useful twining plants 
which we possess. It should be grown in an inter¬ 
mediate-house, and be allowed to twine up pieces 
of string or matting strained closely under the roof. 
In America it is extensively grown in this way and sold 
by the florists at so much per yard, string, foliage, and 
flowers all being cut together. It is used in bouquets 
and for festoons and vases, purposes for which it is 
admirably adapted, its bright glossy leaves and small 
pearl-like nodding flowers possessing both a light and 
elegant appearance. For twining round epergnes and 
other flower-stands it will be found very useful, and 
both foliage and flowers last in a cut state for a 
considerable length of time. Several good plants of 
it may now be seen in the Pine-apple nursery grown in 
the same way just described. They appear to grow 
rapidly and are now flowering freely. 
