76 
ANGELONIA SALICARI^FOLIA. 
is not properly drained ; and next, that it grows naturally in a very elevated and 
exposed situation, from which we learn, that it requires a great degree of light 
and a free circulation of air. The soil therefore which is most suitable, is a mix- 
ture of light sandy loam and heath-mould, and the cultivator must not forget to 
add a few pieces of gritstone, and place a sufficient quantity of potsherds or 
other similar materials in the bottom of the pot. After these points are properly 
attended to, it is no less important that this plant should be placed in a light and 
airy part of the stove ; and, not being of woody habits, it will require to be freely 
supplied with water in the summer months, but should be kept in a perfectly 
dormant state through the winter, by administering water very cautiously and 
sparingly. 
It has usually been treated as a stove plant, and certainly will produce its 
flowers more profusely, and in much greater perfection, in such a situation ; but 
with those persons who do not possess a stove, it will make a very handsome 
ornament in the greenhouse, as the plant from w^hich our drawing was taken, and 
which flowered at Chatsworth in the month of August 1837, had been kept in 
the greenhouse for a great length of time, and thrived well under the usual treat- 
ment given to herbaceous greenhouse plants. 
Propagation may be efibcted by cuttings of the young shoots, but as they 
are of a succulent and watery nature, great care is necessary to preserve them 
from perishing through excessive moisture ; and they should always be planted in 
pure sand. 
This plant was introduced to this country from Caraccas, where it was first 
observed by those eminent naturalists, Messrs. Humboldt and Bonpland, about 
five hundred toises above the level of the sea, and it flowered for the first time 
in this country in the stove of Mr. Herbert of SpofForth, in 1819. It is used 
medicinally as an emetic by the inhabitants of the district in which it is found. 
It is worthy of remark that plants with blue flowers are comparatively rare in 
our collections of stove and greenhouse plants, and this imparts to the subject of 
the present drawing additional value, and should induce cultivators to devote in- 
creasing attention to its cultivation. 
In its native country this plant is usually designated An^elon, and from this 
circumstance it has received its generic name. 
