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PENTAS CARNEA. 
the flowers are first developed they are very pale, but gradually acquire colour 
with exposure. If the plant is kept growing in a favourable situation, it will con- ! 
tinue to blossom, with the formation of new branches, for the greater part of the 
year ; and such is the rapidity of its growth, that it will form a large bush in the 
course of a single season. 
Like most soft-wooded plants of quick growth, it requires a rather large pot, 
and a strong soil, rich in nourishing properties. And it will probably be beneficial 
to use an occasional application of manure water, to increase its vigour, especially 
where large specimens are desirable. In the summer months there is little doubt 
that it will be found to succeed satisfactorily in a close greenhouse, although in 
winter and spring a little more warmth is necessary. 
It is easily propagated by taking off the extremities of the young shoots as 
soon as they have acquired a little firmness ; and, inserting them in a pot of sand, 
covered with a bell-glass, and placed in heat, they will take root in ten days or 
a fortnight, and should be immediately potted into separate pots and encouraged 
to grow. 
The generic name, Pentas , has been applied by Mr. Bentham, from the division 
of the corolla being quinary instead of four-cleft, as in other allied genera. 
Although general, this is not constant, as flowers on the same head are four and 
five-parted. Three or four plants, which have hitherto been arranged under other 
genera, are suspected by Mr. Bentham to belong rightly to this. 
Our drawing was made last April at the nursery of Messrs. Rollisson. 
