52 
to half a dozen infected Weymouths. Though 
this Pine is nearly related to Pinus excelsa I have 
never seen a Pinus excelsa attacked by the insect. 
Pinus excelsa has no disease in this country, or 
at least I have never detected any. W. G. 
MARICA.* 
This group of the Iris family comprises 
eleven or twelve beautiful plants, rarely 
seen, save in a few choice collections. 
Those in cultivation are handsome plants 
with Iris-like foliage of graceful effect 
under glass, growing and flowering free- 
ly. The flowers are exquisitely beauti- 
ful, poised like butterflies upon long 
leaf- like stems, delicate in texture as any 
Orchid, and though each bloom only 
lasts for a few hours, they come in suc- 
cession for two or three weeks during 
the summer. The plants are found 
mainly in eastern tropical America, from 
Mexico to South Brazil. One kind — 
Marica Sabi7ii — is African, coming 
from the island of St. Thomas, and bear- 
ing pale blue or mauve flowers, fully 3 
inches across. Marica br achy pus is a 
native of Trinidad, whilst Marica grac- 
ilis comes from the cooler parts of 
Mexico and Central America. 
Culture. — With one exception, they 
are evergreen stove perennials, not dry- 
ing off" like many hothouse plants, 
though a partial rest should follow the 
flowering season. The dark glossy leaves 
require moisture at all times, and an 
increased supply during the growing 
period, when doses of weak liquid man- 
ure may be given. The plants thrive in 
good loam, with some fibrous peat, and 
plenty of sharp washed sand. There 
should also be ample drainage to carry 
off the surplus water in the spring 
months, when the flower-stalks are 
developing and much moisture is re- 
quired. The best time to repot is early 
spring, the care needed, being, to with- 
hold water for a few days afterwards until 
new roots form. Otherwise the stems 
are apt to decay just at the ground line, 
with loss of flower and sometimes of 
the plant itself Once past this stage, 
water may be given freely. Increase is 
simple with any old plant of Marica 
gracilis^ for after flowering, the tips of 
the flower- stalks can be layered into 
small pots, where they root and form 
sturdy little plants. Other kinds should 
be divided and potted off in small pots ; 
put into brisk bottom-heat and shaded 
from sun for a few days, new roots 
quickly form, and the young plants 
should be grown on into large tufts, 
for small plants are of little value for 
effect while large tufts will give beauty 
for several weeks. The plant of our 
plate is a pretty one, when seen at its 
best in the variety splendens^ but like 
most of the group it is to-day rare in 
gardens . The following kinds have been 
in cultivation : — 
Marica brachypus. — A beautiful plant, like 
that of our plate in form of flovi^er, but yellow 
in colour and with foliage not quite so stout. 
The flowers are in small stemless clusters, with 
limp and ovate spathe-valves as against the 
lanceolate and firm spathe-valves in some other 
kinds, and the segments bright yellow striped 
with red and brown towards the base. West 
Indies. Syn. Cypella brachypus. 
M. ccerulea. — This is perhaps the best 
known of the group, having been in cultiva- 
tion for many years. It differs principally 
from the plant figured in the colour of its 
flowers, which are bright blue in some forms 
and of a distinct lilac shade in others. It has 
* With coloured plate from a drawing by H. G. Moon in The Nurseries, St Albans. 
