COMPARETTIA ROSEA. 
have a very delicate wiry stem, and the pretty rose-coloured blossoms are borne 
near their extremity. 
So scanty and weak are the roots of this and the equally delightful C. coccinea, 
that, unless they are securely fastened to the log that supports them, they are very 
liable to become detached, fall off, get broken, or have their growth otherwise 
impeded. It is necessary, therefore, that this circumstance should be particularly 
attended to. The best way of fixing them is to pass thin wire round them and 
the block, almost close to the base of their leaves ; taking care that this wire does 
not injure them, by placing a little moss beneath it. The moss will be further 
beneficial if kept moist in the summer, by encouraging them to develop more and 
stronger roots ; for defectiveness of roots is a principal cause of their remaining 
stunted and weakly. They should always be grown on logs of wood in preference 
to being kept in pots ; because they are of too slender a nature to be subjected 
to the chance of decay, which will exist in the latter case. 
The genus was named after Andreas Comparetti, a professor at Padua, and an 
eminent writer on vegetable physiology. 
DSI 
