THE FLOE I ST AND POMOLOGHST. 
[ Junk, 
8G 
supplying the kind of information concerning 
them which, the general reader is likely to ap¬ 
preciate. It does, in fact, more than this, for 
in the introductory portion is a summary giving 
a condensed technical description of the sub¬ 
jects figured, and in connection with which the 
English and Latin or scientific names, and 
those of the natural orders are set forth.—M. 
THE CHERRY-PIE PLANT. 
« HIS dwarf and well-known exotic, the 
J[eliotropium peruvianum, belongs to 
the natural order Boraginacese, and is 
highly prized wherever summer bedding is in 
vogue. It may not be so generally known that 
when planted out in a conservatory, it will 
grow on from year to year, and form a climber 
of no mean pretensions. I have grown it to 
the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., and it hung out 
its lateral shoots gracefully. 
This modest, somewhat plain-looking plant, 
like the Violet and the Mignonette, is prized for 
its odour rather than for its beauty, for it is an 
inconspicuous subject, with a gyrate bunch of 
small lilac flowers. It is often called the 
Cherry-pie Plant, but its name Turnsole, 
scarcely disguised from the vernacular Turn- 
to-tlie-Sun, is its most honoured title, although 
less used than the scientific name lleliotropium 
peruvianum. It produces the best effect when 
seen above the eye, just as we see Fuchsias to 
the best advantage when they are beyond our 
reach. Few persons find out the reasons why 
they admire flowers so much when they are 
elevated, as Boses are on long-legged Briars, 
and the various weeping plants, which get all 
their character from being mounted aloft, in¬ 
stead of trailing on the ground. The same 
may be said of all well-ordered rock-work, 
where the dwarf gems get a stone shelf to hold 
them up to admiration. It is so with the un¬ 
assuming Cherry-pie Plant. You may gather 
sprigs of it in flower when you have little else 
to cull, and though plain, it is always accept¬ 
able. Even when the frost has destroyed all 
exotic plants out-of-doors, flowers may be seen 
dangling from the head-gear of this homely 
favourite. Several improvements ’ have been 
made in the family of Heliotropes, as may be 
seen in our gardens, and advertised in our 
garden periodicals, but these do not alter 
the fact of having standard plants or climbers 
of the olden type. 
Gardeners well acquainted with ornamental 
plants have stared at Heliotropes high up, and 
asked what they were called. It is always 
good economy in planting, whether in-doors or 
out, to have dw r arfs and riders. Beginning 
with Lycopodiums (now Selaginellas) close to 
the stone edgings of the walks of the conserva¬ 
tories, and rising gradually with good foliage 
plants, one may finish up with those whose 
long legs, natural or artificial, make points of 
admiration. Dracaenas make excellent starers, 
and if a few die from ill-usage by doing duty 
in odd corners, they are easily made good ; 
but it is not so with more delicate plants. 
They have to be kept in bounds, for when a 
rambling climber has got possession overhead, 
and the insect pests get hold of it, nothing 
less than savage slaughter will check them. I 
need hardly say that insects, in-doors and out, 
give gardeners and amateurs trouble which the 
outer world knows little of. The Heliotrope, 
however, is less infested with vermin than most 
plants, for its looks are not inviting, and so I 
reckon it is not to them a dainty dish.— Alex. 
Forsyth, Salford. 
LXLIUM GIGANTEUM. 
f HE hardiness of the Giant Indian Lily, 
and its free-flowering habit, have been 
the' subjects of some of my former 
communications to the pages of the Florist 
and Pomologist ; but I venture to hope 
that a note of the results of some few 
more years’ experience, which have now 
been added to the knowledge formerly pos¬ 
sessed, and which have been in every way 
successful, may not be considered superfluous, 
seeing that it is a plant of a very highly 
attractive character, and worthy of more 
general cultivation. 
For the last ten years, at least, we have not 
been without several flowering plants in the 
open air every summer. These for some time 
were grown only in the warmest situations, 
such as at the end of or in front of the glass¬ 
houses, and at the bottom of a south wall. But 
we now find that they do not require such 
careful treatment to get them into flower. We 
have them now growing in various situations. 
One planted out in the centre of a sub-tropical 
bed, where it was shaded by plants four or five 
feet in height, last year, produced a good strong 
flowering stem which told well in contrast to 
the class of flowers amongst which it grew, 
This season the same plant is throwing up 
another stem, equally strong, being one of 
