200 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— July 8, 1850. 
PENTATL 
Tins belongs to the Natural Order of Gesner- 
worts (Gesneraceas), and to Didynamia Angio- 
sperma of Linnaeus. It ought to he included 
among the species constituting the genus 
Conradia. 
“ Native of Cuba, where it was discovered by 
M. Linden. A plant was presented to the Horti- 4 
cultural Society by Mr. J. A. Henderson, of the 
Pine-apple Nursery, in the spring of 1819. 
“A shrub with a compact habit, and dark 
green, convex, evergreen leaves, obovate, cre- 
nated near the point, and netted on the under 
side with green veins on a pale ground. The 
flowers grow singly in the axils of the leaves, 
on cinnamon-brown stalks an inch long. The 
corolla is about the same length ; tubular, curved, 
and rich scarlet, with a projecting stylo. The 
calyx consists of live straight, narrow, sharp 
lobes, not unlike five brown needles, whence 
the generic name has arisen. 
“ A dwarf shrub, requiring a temperature 
intermediate between the greenhouse and stove. 
It is easily increased by cuttings treated in the 
usual way, and grows freely in a mixture of 
loam, peat, and leaf-mould. 
“ A. very neat and pretty little plant, remaining a 
considerable time in bloom.”— Hart. Sac. Journal. 
DOUBLE COLUMBINES—HOUSE MOSS 
FOR POTTING PURPOSES. 
In consequence of what Mr. Beaton has stated 
recently, I forward at the earliest opportunity a 
few blooms of double Columbines for his opinion, 
and at his service if de.sired. I am sorry the 
paper was not a week earlier, as now they are 
nearly out of bloom, and I fear the enclosed will 
have fallen to pieces before he receives them. 
I have been told by the company visiting here 
that my assortment was the best they had seen 
for years, and were pleased to find that I was 
interested in so useful, though neglected, a 
flower. I have a great variety in colour of the 
semi-double. I have sent one bloom. The 
double ones are nearly, if not quite, all seedlings from 
the semi-double, as I do not recollect seeing a perfect 
double one last year. I have a little seed by me, and I can 
take seeds from the best of this year; should Mr. Beaton 
think it worth a trial I shall be most happy to forward him 
1 some. 
I have enclosed him a bloom of the double Buttercup. Is 
[ it the true sort? It is an old friend in our family, with the 
j double Polyanthus, though with me here it grows more 
than two feet high; but I have it marked for shifting into 
; the poorest bed I have. That and the bloom enclosed, with 
Erysimum Perofskianum, autumn sown, are the chief yellows 
I have to depend upon for first spring bloom. 
Some of your correspondents of late have mentioned the 
utility of .if oss ; and as I have found it an advantage in my 
small way, perhaps you will allow me to detail it. The Moss 
I am about to speak ol is not the ground Moss, as is gene¬ 
rally used for packing, but the house Moss that is found on 
old thatch or stone tile roofs. About two years ago, the 
plasterers were here repairing the roof of the dwelling-house 
(stone tile), and in doing so they cleaned off a large quan¬ 
tity of the above Moss; and when I was appealed to as to 
where it should be put, I had a look at it, and thought it 
I much too good to be thrown on the dung-heap, so I had it 
j put in a shed I use for tools and potting, and from that 
time up to the present I have used no other drainage for 
every pot I make use of. In pots for cuttings I fill to 
within an inch of the bottom of the cuttings, and as soon as 
they arc rooted I turn the ball out, and take the Moss ort' to 
about, half an inch, or as near as the roots will allow, then 
put back just Moss enough for drainage, and fill up with 
potting-mould, then return the ball to the pot again. Now, 
THIA CUBF/NSIS. 
this bit of Moss left gets full of roots directly, and keeps the 
earth in a nice moist state; and if the pot is plunged in a 
moist bed they will require little or no attention in watering 
till they want repotting, and then, by taking off the bottom 
Moss, the balls will stand on the potting-beneb, and with a 
knife they can be divided with as much ease, and in the 
same manner, as you would divide a half-pound of butter. 
Now, for plants that I want to bloom in pots, I put a 
! layer of the most decayed Moss—such as has been used for 
drainage several times, for I do not waste it—on the top of 
the pot, with a little earth and sand just to cover it. It 
keeps the top from baking, admits the water more freely, 
and encourages the roots upwards. Besides the advantage 
to the plants, it saves a great deal of time in potting. 
There is another circumstance I should like to mention, 
i bearing on the utility of this Moss. When I entered the 
Doctor’s service I found two white Azaleas that had never 
bloomed since they were purchased (in bloom), several 
years ago; and that discourages ladies and gentlemen from 
making larger purchases .than they otherwise would. I 
knew there must be a cause for their not blooming, and to 
discover that cause was the first thing for me to do. First 
thing—What are they growing in, or, more properly, dying 
in? Mhy, common garden mould. Now,peat is mentioned 
as what they should grow in ; but, then, I had no peat, and 
it is very scarce in these parts, and my general practice is, if 
I cannot get the exact thing named, to make use of the best 
substitute I can find; and this Moss struck me as a very 
good substitute, so I got some of the thickest of the 
pieces, and rubbed them into small bits, then mixed a 
little silver-sand with it, and after I had shaken the mould 
from the very small ball of peat that was left, 1 began pot- 
I 
