80 
AMPHICOME ARGUTA. 
the flowers remain expanded a considerable time, and appear in continued succession 
from the month of June till September, inclusive. When the blossoms fade, they 
are immediately succeeded by the seed-pods ; which, from their long, slender, and 
graceful form, render the plant interesting till the leaves decay. 
A sufficient degree of experience has not yet been afforded, to enable us to 
state confidently what degree of cold it will endure ; but it is the opinion of those 
who have hitherto been engaged in its culture, that, with partial shelter during 
the winter, it will be found hardy enough to sustain the rigours of our climate 
without injury. In a greenhouse, it thrives luxuriantly under judicious treatment; 
this being comprised in the very cautious administration of water, and an unrestricted 
transmission of light. An open loam, mixed with a small portion of heath-soil, is 
the most suitable compost. 
"Whether retained in the greenhouse, or planted in the open ground, the prin- 
cipal subject for attention in the winter is the due regulation of the supply of 
moisture. Being naturally torpid at that season, this plant is peculiarly susceptible 
of damage from any superfluity of the element just mentioned. It is more than 
probable that, if placed in a dry situation in the open border, and protected with 
some trifling awning which would divert the rain, it would be impervious to at 
least a considerable degree of cold. Water should therefore be regarded by the 
cultivator as scarcely less dangerous than frost ; becoming increasingly prejudicial 
in proportion to the amount of its application. Frost, in fact, acquires all its 
virulence from the quantity of fluids involved in any plant, since it is through 
these alone that it can operate upon the substance of vegetation. 
Either seeds or cuttings will produce young plants ; although they grow rather 
tardily by each of these methods. Unless a great number of plants is desired, 
only the latter mode should be adopted, as the seeds are some time in vegetating, 
and the plants thus obtained seldom flower till the second year after semination. 
Old specimens are likewise greatly weakened by allowing them to ripen their 
seeds. 
In the greenhouse of Messrs. Rollison, Tooting, the plant which furnished the 
subject for our drawing, flowered in great perfection during the months of July 
and August, 1838 ; and there can be no doubt that the flowers would have been 
still finer if the specimen had been grown in the open air. These gentlemen 
possess a stock of young plants, as do also most of the principal nurserymen. 
The generic name is from two Greek words, alluding to the hairy covering of 
the seeds. 
