104 MIRBELIA FLORIBUNDA". 
admirable dwarf specimens which are the pride of our greenliouses ; while the 
great length of time the flowers remain perfect, and their expansion at an early 
period, or during the months of March and April, stamp it with a striking and 
sterling interest to the culturist. 
Being what is popularly termed a hair-rooted plant, or possessed of 
numbers of minute, fibrous rootlets, it requires some care in its cultivation. 
Wholly without a tendency to rank or exuberant growth, the soil in which it is 
potted should be composed of those ingredients which will not beget or foster such 
a disposition; for whatever would radically change its character in this way, 
would no doubt likewise prejudicially affect the inflorescence. The compost most 
suitable is, consequently, a mixture of light, sandy loam and heath-soil, of which 
the latter should be in the proportion of six parts to four. If the soil be elevated 
slightly in the centre of the pot, so as to leave the neck (or that portion from which 
the stem and the roots jointly issue) freely exposed, the health of the specimen will 
be further secured. Free drainage, and the proper adjustment of the earth about 
the roots, are matters on which nothing need be said. 
Cuttings of the younger shoots, taken off shortly after they are formed, and 
potted in sandy soil, under a glass in the propagation house, will root with tolerable 
certainty; and the pruning necessary to obtain these cuttings will be rather 
beneficial to the plant, which is not naturally prone to emit too many branches. 
Sir. J. E. Smith created this genus in honour of M. Mirbel, one of the most 
celebrated French investigators of physiological botany. 
