202 
ON THE CULTIVATION OF HEDYCHIUM, 
serviceable, as the roots soon run to the bottom where they meet with something- 
upon which to feed, I never give a second shift the same season, but, immediately- 
after potting, I apply a good quantity of water, and in general remove the pot to the 
hot bark bed of a pinery, or other place where it can get a brisk bottom heat ; soon 
after the application of bottom heat, the shoots begin to push freely and finely, when 
too much water can hardly be given. In this situation, thus treated, they stand 
until the flowers appear, when I remove them to the plant stove, which they greatly 
ornament with their white flowers and render it otherwise very pleasant by the 
diffusion of their grateful odours. The plant is not very subject to be attacked by 
insects, still it requires to be now and then syringed and watched ; for if neglected 
for any length of time, the mealy bug I have found to appear under the spathe of 
the flower spike, and to increase in number so much as to become very unsightly 
and dirty. I am not aware of there being any means of propagation beside dividing 
the roots, by which young plants are readily obtained: the seed, I believe, never 
ripens in this country, a deficiency abundantly provided for by the facility of in- 
creasing them at the roots. A few flowers gathered with long stalks, and intro- 
duced into nosegays, impart a delightful fragrance; also the atmosphere of the 
sitting or drawing room is rendered exceedingly grateful and inviting by the intro- 
duction of merely half-a-dozen flowers ; these should be renewed every morning by 
fresh ones from the plant, which, in general, aff"ordsa plentiful supply. It is said to 
be of Chinese origin, and is very much cultivated in the Malaccas on account of its 
exquisite odour, and is frecjuently worn by the Indian belles in their hair; and in 
the symbolical language of the Malays, when sent as a present to a young man, 
it is intended to reproach him for inconstancy in love. 
Hedychium angustifolium, or Red Garland Flower, is a splendid species attaining 
as much as six feet in height, and producing at the top of the strong shoots a beau- 
tiful large cluster, a foot in length, of soft vermilion or scarlet flowers ; these are 
delightfully fragrant, but much less so than the preceding species. It flowers in 
general late in July or the beginning of August, but does not keep^^^up such a succes- 
sion as the species coronarium, neither do the individual flowers remain perfect so 
long. This species I cultivate with the greatest success in the same manner as recom- 
mended for H. coronarium. The plants grow quite free and strong; the flowers are 
very numerous, and prove a desirable autumnal acquisition to the stove, or a corner 
of the pine pit, where I sometimes allow them to flower; and, indeed, in a working 
vinery they are highly ornamental and produce a tolerably good quantity of flowers, 
but a plant of this description is so much at variance with the harmonious appearance 
of the pinery or vinery, that it cannot be considered in its proper place out of the plant 
stove. This species was discovered by Roxburgh, on the coast of Coromandel, and 
by Dr. Buchanan, in Upper Nepaul ; and was introduced to this country by Sir A. 
Hume, about 1815. Propagated, as noticed above, for the preceding species. 
Hedychium flavum, or Yellow Garland Flower. This fine species, we are informed 
by the Hovtus Bengalensis, was sent by Mr. M. R. Smith, from Silhet, to the 
Calcutta garden, in 1810, whence it has lately been brought over to England, and 
flowered with us in December. The blossoms are very showy, and their fragrance 
is delightful, a little resembling a ripe orange, with a mixture of jasmine. The 
stem grew about four feet high. 
