270 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. [January 00. 
of a generic name, it may very likely turn out-that it 
has no peculiar meaning at all, but is merely com¬ 
memorative of some individual who has rendered good 
j service to this branch of natural history. Even when 
i the meaning is perceived, as in the present instance of 
the Chorozema, which is compounded of the words 
cheros, a dance, and zema, a drink, still, without farther 
intelligence of the matter, we might puzzle ourselves 
for years with the beautiful pea-shaped blossoms, the 
compact habit of most of the species, the various formed 
j leaves—some resembling a heath, others not unlike, 
j except in size, our prickly holly—without being able to 
i discover anything to remind us either of dancing or drink¬ 
ing. Could we, however, at once bring before our mind’s 
I eye the French botanist Labillardierre strolling along 
the south-west coast of New Holland, fatigued and 
parched with thirst, trying every pool of water that 
came in his way, but finding them undrinkable from the 
salt they held in solution,—coming at length upon a 
bubbling fountain of delicious water, should we then 
wonder that the vivacious botanist would dance as he 
quaffed the refreshing liquid ? or could we question the 
propriety of his christening as Chorozema the beautiful 
new plant found growing upon the banks of the reser¬ 
voir, as alike expressive of his feelings and commemo¬ 
rative of the event? Even this circumstance, trifling 
though it may seem to some, presents us with the solu¬ 
tion of the chief difficulty respecting the cultivation of 
the various species, and especially of those that are 
somewhat tender and shy in their habits. Stagnant 
moisture—either from insufficient drainage or a want of 
porousness in the soil, or the soil allowed to become dry 
while the pot stands upon a dry shelf—are alike and 
equally ruinous. 
Our collection of this group is at present rather 
limited; for, like many more, to sustain the pleasures 
arising from variety, old favourites must be set aside, in 
order that others may charm for a time by their novelty, 
if not by their superiority. Old beautiful plants, thus 
discarded from limited collections, when introduced 
again have even more pleasing associations in some 
respects than new untried species. The Chorozemas as 
a whole are all so good, that where there is room there 
is not one but deserves cultivation. Like the Epacris 
| and Cornea, to both of which attention has lately been 
I directed, they are natives of New Holland, and its near 
neighbour Van Dieman’s Laud. They appropriately 
follow both of these groups, inasmuch as if they delight 
us in winter, the Chorozemas commence blooming in 
March, and in some of the species continue to do so 
until the commencement of autumn. The flowers are 
produced in larger or lesser racemes, proceeding chiefly 
from the axils of the leaves near the points of the 
shoots. This points out a peculiarity of culture to be 
attended to—namely, the securing not of a few strong 
i shoots, but by timely stopping and tying out a great 
number of shorter and yet stubby and well ripened 
ones. 
The following are among the best species, though 
there are others very good. As most of them produce 
seed freely, we may expect many superior varieties when 
once the Hybridist sets earnestly to work, such as plants 
with the large flowers of varium and the compact habit 
of triangularis and ovata. For greater usefulness, we 
shall arrange the limited list into three groups. 
1st. C. Hendkmanii, stems upright; leaves needle- 
shaped, like a heath ; flowers scarlet, with a yellow 
mark. Introduced 1825. 
C. angustifolia, branches slender, inclined to be a 
climber; small linear leaves; flowers yellow and crim¬ 
son. 1830. 
C. Diolcsonii, stems compact; leaves narrow; flowers 
red and yellow. 1830. 
Those grow, upon an average, from two to four feet 
in height. 
2nd. C. eordata, stems slender; leaves heart-shaped, 
spiny at the edges ; flowers red. 
C. ovata, stems slender; leaves ovate; flowers scarlet. 
1830. 
C. illicifolia, stems slender; leaves oblong, sinuated, 
and spiny; flowers yellow and red. 1803. 
C. varia, stems stronger growing; leaves roundish, 
sometimes plain, sometimes notched and jagged, hence 
its name ; flowers yellow and red, and large. 1839. 
These generally grow from two to four feet in height. 
I have had a large bush of varia from five to six feet, 
and diameter in proportion. This division has beau¬ 
tiful flowers, and, upon the whole, is easiest managed. 
3rd. C. nana, stems and leaves compact and small; 
flowers yellow and red. 1803. 
C. spartioides, stem and loaves spartium-like; flowers, 
yellow and brown. 
C. triangularis, stem slender; leaves long, sinuated, and 
with prickles on the edges; flowers scarlet and purple. 1830. 
C. fiava, stems slender; leaves sinuated, and toothed ; 
flowers creamy yellow. 1848. This last I have not seen, 
but I have been informed it resembles the others in this 
group; all of' which are naturally of a slender dwarf 
habit, varying from one foot to eighteen inches in height; 
though, of course, they will get taller when well grown, 
and kept for a long period. 
The difference in the treatment of these divisions 
consists chiefly in the soil or compost to be used. In all 
it should be of an open porous character, and yet not so 
rough, but it will go pretty closely together The Jirst 
division principally require roughish peat. I have found 
the following answer well:—Rough peat, from which 
the very finest was removed, and the largest pieces 
ranging from the size of small marbles to that of chest¬ 
nuts and pigeon's-eggs, according to the size of the shift 
given; such fibry peat, four parts; fibry sweet loam, one 
part; broken charcoal, broken pots, small clean stones, 
such as is procured from the washing of road-drift, and 
silver sand, from one to two parts. This woidd make a 
nice open light compost. The surface must be covered 
with finer material to prevent the air entering too freely. 
It is necessary that the charcoal used shoidd be clean, 
good, and from hard wood. Any rubbish charred will 
do for common purposes; but for plants a little shy, 
something better than charrings from the rubbish-heap 
must be obtained. For the second division, with an 
equal amount of open porous matter, equal parts of turfy 
loam and turfy peat may be adopted, or the loam may 
nearly equal the peat. As a general principle, it will be 
found that the larger and plainer the leaves, the stronger 
will be the growth, and the mure nearly may the loam 
equal the peat in quantity. For the third and dwarlest 
division, three parts of peat to one of loam, with enough 
of sand, charcoal, &o., to render it open, will answer 
well. Having said so much upon soil, I shall now 
merely specify a few points of management. 
Choosing plants in a Nursery. —Let them be dwarf, 
stubby, and young, with the roots just getting to the side 
of the pot. A stunted, pot-bound plant, however large, will 
never do any good. A struck cutting is to be preferred. 
If the family is new to you, it is best to get the plants in 
the spring, as the growing season is before you. 
Pruning. —With the exception of stopping very vigor¬ 
ous shoots, which should be done at any time, this should 
be principally done when the plants are done flowering. 
The plants should be kept a little closer and warmer 
afterwards, to encourage fresh growth, when this has 
taken place. 
Potting should be attended to when necessary, paying 
particular attention to drainage. Very large shifts can 
scarcely ever be given with safety to large established 
plants, though it may be safely adopted with vigorous 
