176 
COMBRETUM GRANDIFLORU M. 
until the tops die. When this is the case, take them up and treat 
them as old roots; and the year following they will in general flower. 
A good Ranunculus should have a strong stem, from eight to twelve 
inches high. The flower should be perfectly round, at least two in¬ 
ches in diameter, consisting of numerous petals, gradually diminish¬ 
ing in size to the centre, lying over each other, so as neither to be 
too close nor too much separated, but having more of a perpendicu¬ 
lar than of a horizontal direction, in order to display the colours with 
better effect. The petals with entire rounded edges, their colours 
dark, clear, rich, or brilliant, either of one colour, or variously di¬ 
versified on an ash, white, sulphur, or fire coloured ground, or else 
regularly striped, spotted, or mottled in an elegant manner. 
ARTICLE XII. 
CULTURE OF COM BRET UM GRANDIFLORUM. 
This is one of the many noble plants with which the once fatal col¬ 
ony of Sierra Leone abounds. It is a scrambling plant, raising it¬ 
self by means of a very curious kind of hook with which nature has 
ingeniously supplied it. At first sight one would wonder what this 
hook could be; for nothing like spine, or prickle, or tendril, can be 
discovered upon the branches. The want of these, it is necessary 
should be supplied by some special provision, which is of the 
following kind. When the leaves are first fully formed, they are 
seated upon a footstalk of a very common appearance, but, after a 
time they fail away, leaving but a footstalk behind ; the latter does 
not wither up, but gradually lengthens, hardens, sharpens, and curves, 
till at last it becomes a powerful hook, admirably adapted for catching 
hold of the branches of any tree that it may be near, and thus eleva¬ 
ting the plant from the earth. These hooks, however, are not to be 
found on those grown in our stoves, but only in the woods of Sierra 
Leone, its native habitation.— Bot. Reg. p. 1631. 
The C. comosum purpureum, and all other species of this genus, 
require similar treatment to the grandiflora: they are very beautiful, 
particularly the purpureum, which makes a most splendid show at 
the time of flowering. They all thrive well in a mixture of loam 
and peat; cuttings will root freely, if planted in a light soil or sand, 
and covered with a hand-glass, and placed in the m< ist heat of a good 
hot-bed. A good way to obtain fine plants in a short space of time, 
is to layer some of the branches, which will soon strike root. After 
they are rooted, pot them off in 60-sized pots, and place them in a 
shady part of the stove. 
