


82 THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
mode of raising this hybrid in “The Gardener's Magazine,” from which it appears that he took care that the 
plant intended to produce the seed should be very healthy, and in a luxuriant state of growth, bearing flowers on 
its strongest leading branches. He placed this plant in the stove about the end of February; not removing it at 
once from the greenhouse, but changing its temperature gradually by placing it, first, in a moderate hot-bed. He 
then took off all the blossom buds from the side-shoots, leaving only those on the main stems; and for the 
remainder of the process he gives the following directions, which he says are sure to be attended with success. 
“* As soon as the flower expands, extract the anthers from the intended female parent; and next day, or as soon as 
you perceive the pistils getting moist, apply the pollen, at the same time making two or three slits in the whole 
length of the corolla, to let out the sweet secretion often lodging on the germen. See that the decaying corolla 
does not cause the style to damp off, as this ought to be preserved till it dries of itself. As soon as you perceive 
the germen swelling, stop the leading shoots. Apply all safe stimulants till the seeds are ripe, but do not let the 
plant expand its energies in the production of young wood. Pinch off every bud as it offers to expand. Keep the 
plant or plants as near the glass as possible all the time, and sow the seeds as soon as ripe.” It must be observed 
that this plan, though likely to produce hybrids with very ornamental flowers, will have a tendency also to make 
them more tender than hybrids raised from plants kept in a common greenhouse during the whole period of 
hybridisation and ripening of the seeds. 
C. BICOLOR Hort. 
This is an exceedingly pretty hybrid, raised between C. pulchella and C. alba, and, unlike most other hybrids, 
it preserves the shape as well as the colours of both its parents; the lower part of its flowers being cylindrical and 
crimson, and the upper part being white and cleft into large segments like C. alba. This combination of colours 
and forms, with the addition of golden yellow stamens, gives the flowers a remarkably lively and brilliant 
appearance. It is rather a smaller plant than most of the other hybrids, and it should be grown in a light loamy 
soil. It may be propagated either by cuttings or by grafting it on stocks of C. pulchella, C. alba, and C. speciosa. 
C. VIRENS Smith. 
This species was introduced from Van Diemen’s Land, in which country it is found wild, as well as in New 
South Wales. It has cylindrical flowers, which are green; and the whole plant is covered with brownish hairs. 
The plant is not very ornamental, as its foliage is coarse and rough, and its green flowers are not at all conspicuous. 
C. RUFA Dee. 
This plant is said to have white flowers, resembling those of C. alba, and rusty leaves. It was introduced in 
1819, but it is now very seldom seen in collections. 
C. FERRUGINEA Hook, 
This species appears very closely to resemble C. rufa, and indeed it may possibly be the same plant under a 
different name. The leaves are rather small, and covered on the under surface with a dense brown-red down, 
formed of numerous short starry hairs thickly matted together. The branches are covered with a similar down, 
but the upper surface of the leaves is green and quite smooth. The flowers bear some resemblance to those of 
C. alba, but they are more cylindrical, and haye a greenish tinge. The species was introduced from Van Diemen’s 
Land in 1836. 
Several other hybrids have been raised, of different shades of crimson, pink, and yellowish white, with 
occasionally shades of green; the form varying from the long cylinder of C. speciosa to the short and deeply cleft 
corolla of C. alba. 




