1868.] 
HABROTHAMNUS ELEGANS. 
141 
ing extremes, and keeping the plant clear of insects, is all they require until 
they commence to unfold their flowers, when less water, and a somewhat 
cooler and drier atmosphere will be required until they have done flowering, 
after which they must be put in some moderately warm place, not higher 
than 50°, nor lower than 45°, if full to the sun and light so much the 
better, and kept quite dry until they commence to grow again the following 
season, when the routine of practice detailed above must be repeated. The 
insects to which they are subject are brown and white scale. If allowed to 
be in too dry an atmosphere, or to want for water, thrips will attack them; 
but frequent washing with clean warm water will remove these pests. 
The above routine of culture is applicable to the following varieties, 
which may be obtained at very moderate prices. 
C. vestita rubra, white with crimson eye. 
G. vestita lutea, white with yellow eye. 
C. vestita nivalis , pure white. 
Alton Towers. 
C. vestita cuprea , white with bronze eye. 
G. vestita Turneri , white with pink eye. 
C. Veitcliii , rose with white eye. 
William Moore. 
HABROTHAMNUS ELEGANS. 
% 
■tsr 
(jYjmHEN well grown this grand old Mexican plant stands second to 
none as a decorative plant for the conservatory. It is of vigorous 
growth and a profuse bloomer, even in midwinter, which is no mean 
quality for a plant to possess. It is particularly well adapted for 
growing as a single specimen, or for covering a wall or pillar in 
a lofty structure, as well as in one of moderate proportions. When grown 
on a pillar it is perhaps seen to the greatest advantage. There is one in 
the conservatory at this place that I planted from a small pot two years 
since ; it is now 15 feet high and well proportioned, and was covered with 
bloom from top to bottom, from the middle of October onwards : it is 
growing on a pillar between an Acacia grandis of the same height on one 
side, and a Fassiflora on the other, and its appearance all the winter has 
been strikingly beautiful. It is planted in a well-drained soil, composed of 
one-half rather heavy but rich turfy loam, and the remainder leaf mould 
and road drift in equal proportions. It blooms on the last year’s growth, 
and should not be pruned until it has done blooming, and the wood is 
thoroughly ripened; even then it must be done carefully by spurring the 
weakest shoots, and shortening others in proportion to their strength, while 
some may be laid-in their full length to increase the size of the plant if 
required. This mode of treatment will insure a good winter bloom, but 
by a judicious pruning and thinning of the branches at different times in 
the year, the plant can be made almost a perpetual flowerer. It should 
have abundance of water when growing, and manure water once a week. 
I have found it useful when grown in pots, under which conditions it 
can be made to flower well twice a year, by the assistance of bottom heat, 
