78 
HIBISCUS LINDLEI. 
high, and its changeable flowers have a beautiful appearance. They open in the 
morning of a yellowish green colour, they shortly afterwards change to white, about 
mid-day they begin to show a tinge of red, and towards evening they attain to a 
full bright crimson rose colour, after which they shortly begin to fade and die. The 
tiliaceus is said to form a tree twenty feet high in the East Indies, with a very 
thick bole : the natives make small cordage of its bark. In this country it seldom 
reaches above ten or twelve feet in height. The green-house shrubby species, as 
strigosus , pedunculatus, Richardsoni , heterophyllus , &c., require nearly the same 
treatment as the stove kinds. H. heterophyllus is said to be manufactured into a rude 
cordage in New South Wales, its native country. The stove herbaceous species, as 
speciosus, crinitus, &c. will require a little different treatment from the shrubby 
species: when they die down, give them very little water, and just before they 
commence growing again, re-pot them in light rich soil, &c.; give them a good 
supply of water during the growing season. Some may be propagated by seeds ; 
others by division of the roots. The tender annual species, as radiatus , digitatus, &c., 
should be sown in pots, and treated in the same way as other tender annuals 
(see page 20). The hardy annual species, as Trionum, vesicarius, only require 
to be sown in the open border, like other hardy annuals (see page 18). The 
Syriacus , or Althcea frutex , is the only shrubby species that is hardy : there are 
seven or eight varieties raised from it, all of which are very ornamental ; they will 
all thrive in any common garden soil, and may be raised in abundance from both 
seeds, layers, and cuttings : the latter will strike freely under a hand-glass, in a 
shady situation. The hardy herbaceous species, as virginicus, palustris, aqua - 
ticus, &c., thrive best in rather a wet soil, slightly sheltered in winter, and may be 
increased by dividing the roots. 
