AROIDS, STOVE PLANTS AND NEPENTHES 137 
Anthurium. 
Philodendron. 
such as the “friar’s cowl” of the Mediterranean region and the 
Arisaema or “ Indian turnip ” of North America. Still, the order is 
mainly tropical, and its members vary in habit from low-growing 
plants to tall climbers. 
In this house the genus most strongly represented is Anthurium, 
many species of which have exceedingly handsome leaves, remarkable 
not only for size but for colouring also. They often 
take the form of a shield, and some of the finest are 
from four feet to five feet long ; others, of a more heart-shaped out- 
line, are from one foot to two feet wide. Some members of this genus 
are valued also for their brilliantly-coloured inflorescence. Several 
fine specimens of the giant fern — Angiopteris — are prominent features, 
as is also Amherstia nobilis, one of the most gorgeous of tropical trees 
when in flower. 
But more suggestively tropical than anything else is the climbing 
vegetation that covers the pillars and walls. The most remarkable of 
these climbers are the rampant Philodendrons, reach- 
ing to and across the roof, some of them with innu- 
merable aerial roots hanging down like cords a dozen feet or more 
from the stems. Then there are strong-growing plants like Monstera, 
with finely-cut leaves, and curious clinging plants like Pothos and 
Marcgraavia, whose leaves press flat against the wall and whose roots 
suck its damp surface. 
Palms, too, grow here, but they are very different from the burly 
giants of the Palm House. They are chiefly Chamaedoreas and Calamus, 
some of them with stems two-thirds the height of the house, but 
varying in thickness from that of a lead pencil to that of a stout 
cudgel, and crowned with a graceful tier of leaves. 
The Stove, a compartment of the T-Range, is devoted to the 
cultivation of purely tropical plants of the same character as those 
in the Aroid House and Palm House, but smaller, less 
robust, and requiring more careful treatment. Here, and 
in the next compartment (No. 10), are grown most of the Bromeliads 
— a curious order of plants, many of them epiphytes, to which the 
pine-apple belongs. The choicer palms and the more highly-coloured 
aroids are grown here. Indeed, a large proportion of the plants 
are chiefly notable for the beauty of their foliage, although some, 
such as the Allamandas, make brilliant floral displays. 
Next to the Stove is the Begonia House (No. 8), which is kept at 
The Stove. 
