246 
GESNERA LATERITIA. 
Its culture is in no degree dissimilar to that of its allies. Cuttings should be 
taken from the young shoots, as soon as they are two or three inches long, in the 
same way as from Dahlias ; only not removing the base, but leaving it attached to 
the old tuber, that fresh stems may be generated. If struck rapidly in a brisk 
heat, they will form excellent blooming plants in the following season, and will 
probably flower the same year. The plant demands a rather generous treatment, 
in regard to soil and atmospheric moisture. The compost in which it is potted 
should be enriched with leaf mould or decayed manure ; and it must not be stinted 
for pot room. To retain around it a congenial humidity, it should be plunged in 
fermenting bark, or some such material, so that the supply of moisture may not 
depend on variable sources. Thus managed, it is a most valuable stove plant, and 
will even bloom through the month of November under favourable circumstances. 
The tubers should be well preserved from damp during the resting period. 
The engraving below will supply a more correct idea of the character of the 
plant than could be furnished in the coloured representation. 
