124 
THE GENUS PLUMBAGO". 
favorable a position, is described as strikingly beautiful. The 
honour of introducing so fine a thing appears due to Mr. Smith, 
a resident in China, who in 1846 sent it to Sir G. Larpent, and 
falling into the hands of so good a cultivator as Sir George’s 
gardener, Mr. Eyles, its merits were soon tested, the experience 
of the following season satisfactorily proving it to be the best of 
the genus. From the information we have obtained respecting 
its management, it seems to possess peculiar habits, differing 
from all the other species, and so requiring a modified treat¬ 
ment, in which some particulars apply to it alone; it is one of 
those plants which, though sufficiently robust to grow with 
vigour in the fullest exposure to our climate in summer, can 
hardly be preserved through the winter in a greenhouse: there 
are many such, and a familiar example may be instanced in the 
Heliotrope. This seeming tenderness may, however, be regarded 
as the effects of a confined stagnant atmosphere and long-con¬ 
tinued diminished light acting on a constitution naturally 
adapted to an opposite position, rather than an inherent want of 
vigour. In its native station the plant enjoys a clear sky and a 
considerable elevation of temperature, at all times greater than is 
usual with us, the absence of which in our autumnal months 
leaves the system of the plant replete with unassimilated secre¬ 
tions, and in an immature condition, most unfavorable to its 
preservation in winter; and unless it is kept in a growing state, 
there exists a great probability of loss among the branches or 
even of the entire plant, from damp or “ fogging.” Hence has 
arisen the practice of keeping such things in a temperature in¬ 
termediate between that of the greenhouse and the stove; the 
object being to assist the elaboration of sap by the development of 
more leaves, and so by working up undue secretions prevent a 
disruption of the vessels of the plant. In propagation, soil, and 
general treatment this species may be classed with P. capensis , 
with the single exception, that it is safer in a slightly elevated 
temperature through the winter. Its capacity to grow and 
flower in the open air in summer renders it of the utmost value 
for ornamenting the flower-garden, the copious display of lovely 
bright violet flowers which distinguish it being quite unrivalled, 
or in fact unique, no other plant we possess being so well calcu¬ 
lated to further the desires of the flower-gardener in his attempts 
