LOASA PICTA. 
2G7 
grown in the open air, they form fine autumn 
blooming subjects." 
" Hovea. — A handsome family of green- 
house evergreen shrubs, comprising a con- 
siderable number of species, among which 
there is proportionate variety, in size and 
habit : they are free-growing subjects. The 
flowers of all are of some shade of purple or 
blue, and of the shape of those of the pea, 
which form is called butterfly-shaped ; and 
hence, papilionaceous, from papilio, a name 
given to butterflies. The most beautiful of 
the whole family is Hovea ilicifolia, the 
leaves of which are bright, and something 
like those of a small holly. This family of 
plants requires a light fresh soil, but not a 
rich one : one-third loam and two- thirds peat 
will answer well. The drainage must be 
good ; as much as one-third of the ordinary- 
formed jtots should be filled with crocks, and 
they should be watered with clean rain-water, 
if possible. Cuttings will strike in sand upon 
the ordinary compost ; an inch of sand, well 
saturated with water, should be prepared on a 
level surface of the compost. The cuttings, 
which should be the tips of unblooming shoots, 
should be taken two inches long, the leaves 
cut off the lower inch, without bruising or 
touching the bark ; and these should be stuck 
in the sand, and covered with a bell-glass. 
A slight bottom heat contributes to facilitate 
the striking. During the time the cuttings 
are striking, the glass should be taken off 
daily, and wiped dry inside ; and they must 
on no account lack moisture. When they 
have begun to grow, the glass may be left off 
an hour every day. During the whole time 
they must be shaded by putting a paper cap 
over the sunny side of the glass. When they 
have struck, they must be potted into the 
smallest- sized pots (three-inch, or sixties), 
and kept the same depth that they were in 
the cutting-pot ; — on no account must they 
be sunk deeper. They may now be placed 
near the glass in the greenhouse, merely pro- 
tected from the scorching mid-day sun, and 
Avatered daily as to their moisture, which 
must be on no account neglected. Their 
tops may be pinched out as soon as they are 
fairly established, and this will encourage 
lateral shoots. As soon as the pots fill with 
roots, let them be changed for a size larger, 
keeping to the same compost, and taking care 
not to bruise the fibres which are exposed 
outside the ball of earth. They may be 
allowed as much air as possible in mild 
weather ; and if any of the lateral shoots are 
growing too vigorously, let them be topped, 
for, excepting H. ilicifolia, they all incline 
to make long shoots. In this way may the 
plants be grown from pot to pot, until they 
form, first, handsome little, and ultimately 
handsome large plants. Those who are anxious 
to form large specimens in a short time, wiil 
pick off the buds of flowers while the plants 
are small. It is far better to let them take 
their natural chance, and bloom in season. 
When the flowers decay, by all means remove 
the decaying flowers ; because the formation 
of seed-pods would retard the growth, and 
prevent them from growing handsome. To 
raise them from seed, sow in pans, or wide- 
mouthed pots, and place them in the green- 
house, where, as soon as they are up, they 
must be kept clear of weeds, and be occa- 
sionally watered, until they are large enough 
to prick out in other pans, an inch and a half 
apart. Here they may grow till they are 
large enough to pot singly, when they must 
be treated exactly like cuttings. The Hovea 
ilicifolia has purple flowers. Other hand- 
some kinds are U. Celsii, blue ; Jl.pvngens, 
blue ; and H. splendens, blue : they bloom in 
April and May." 
LOASA PICTA. 
Loasa picta, Hooker (painted flowered 
Loasa). — Loasaceas. 
This is a very pretty annual, and is likely 
to prove useful for the flower garden, as a 
bedding plant. The Loasas, however, are fur- 
nished with stinging hairs, which is some 
objection to them, as they are in consequence 
not at all fit for bouquets, or, in fact, for plac- 
ing in any position where they are likely to 
be " handled." The flowers are, however, 
extremely pretty, and being quite unlike those 
of any other plants, they may be fitly intro- 
duced to situations where they may only be 
" looked at." 
Several species have been introduced, but 
these have, from the reason just pointed out, 
been in great measure neglected, with the 
exception of one or two climbing species, 
L. lateritia, and L. Herbertii, which have 
orange-red flowers, and are very useful as 
well as ornamental climbers, both for the 
flower garden and greenhouse. The former 
is the larger growing of the two. 
Loasa picta is an annual. The stems 
grow about a foot high, nearly erect, but 
slender, and branched, The alternately-placed 
lower leaves are rhomb-ovate, pointed, acutely 
lobed, and serrated ; they are attached by 
stalks, and are from two to three inches long. 
The leaves on the ujsper part of the plant 
are not stalked, and are lance-shaped in out- 
line, the margins being coarsely serrate. The 
numerous branches terminate in somewhat 
leafy racemes of flowers ; these are attached 
by long peduncles, and are turned down- 
wards ; they are also large for the size of the 
plant, being nearly an inch and a half in ex- 
