8 58 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
below the anthers, the beauty spots that attract the 
insects on which they depend for fertilization ; but as 
we have not imported the insects with the plants, fertil¬ 
ization must be effected by the cultivator, and he may 
make sure of an ample reward for his pains. 
Freesias produce abundance of seed, which should be 
sown as soon as ripe in the usual mixture of sandy peat 
with a little mellow loam, and have the coolest culture 
possible under glass, for a high winter temperature is 
injurious to these plants, but they will bear, and really 
need, a moderate heat when coming into flower in 
winter and early spring, for, like the Tuberose and many 
other fragrant subjects, they are almost scentless when 
the temperature is too low. 
In general requirements Freesias agree with Sparaxis 
and Babiana. They are nearly, but not quite, hardy ; 
they require an abundance of water while growing, and 
a long and decided season of rest. A mixture of peat, 
loam, and sand, will suit their requirements as to soil, 
and the proportions are really of little consequence 
provided the stuff is good, and of a texture to 
encourage the free running of the roots. But the 
ripening of the bulbs is a very important matter. This 
is best accomplished by allowing them to remain in the 
pots, and from the time the leaves begin to wither, with¬ 
holding water, and when the leaves have died down, 
the pots should be laid upon their sides on an upper shelf 
until the time returns for repotting them. Then the 
work should be done quickly to avoid unnecessary 
exposure of the bulbs to the air, but they may well be 
flowered a second season in the same pots aided with a 
renewal of the top crust of the soil. When the pots are 
crowded, the bulbs must be taken out and the number 
reduced in the repotting ; but while this is not the case, 
it will be found good practice to keep them two years 
in the same pots. 
Freesias have not as yet given satisfaction in the open 
ground. They will be found to prosper with Ixias and 
Sparaxis as frame plants and in borders under the walls 
of warm houses, but they are certainly hardy enough to 
be treated in the same way as Gladioli, and the chief 
point will be to secure well-ripened bulbs and keep 
them dormant until the Spring is sufficiently advanced 
to allow them to grow without a check and without the 
aid of heat. Then, if potted in small pots and started in 
a cool house or frame, they may be in due time planted 
out for flowering in the open ground, and, in fact, they 
may be treated the same as Gladioli, but with a little 
extra care to suit their weaker nature. 
The special value of these flowers and the reason of 
their increasing popularity is to be found in their happy 
adaptability for the supply of fragrant winter flowers. 
They suit the purpose of the bouquet maker to perfec¬ 
tion, they prove singularly useful for decorative pur¬ 
poses generally, and as pot plants for the conservatory 
or table they declare themselves by their elegant forms 
and delightfully fresh perfume to be worthy of special 
attention. 
The free seeding of these flowers will no doubt, in the 
course of time, bring many varieties into cultivation. 
For the present, only three are generally recognized, 
and as remarked above, these are probably not specifi¬ 
cally distinct. But that is no matter. Freesia refracta 
alba (also catalogued as odorata) produces pure white 
flowers; and F. Leichtlini has flowers of a pale yellow. 
There has lately been introduced a third, called Leicht¬ 
lini maxima, the flowers of which are larger, and the 
plant more robust than the ordinary form of Leichtlini; 
the color is a pleasing creamy-toned Primrose, with the 
usual orange blotch on the lower petal. This was raised 
by Mr. Charles Smith of Guernsey, and is the result of a 
cross between the former. Some other hybrids have 
been catalogued but they lack distinctness. 
The spelling of Freesia is important, as there is a genus 
of myrtle-like shrubs, natives of Australia and New 
Zealand, named Friesia, to which, of course, the plants 
now before us bear no relationship whatever. 
Gardners' Magazine 
THE FLORA OF INDIA. 
• : ' d ■ 
Herr Haeckel having'recently visited the island of 
Elephanta, with its interesting rock temple, after de¬ 
scribing it, goes on to mention the impression made on 
him by the tropical flora. “ In another way this excur¬ 
sion to Elephanta was of the greatest interest and never 
to be forgotten, for this day, the 9th of November, was 
the first on which I saw the magic of the tropic flora in 
all the freedom of nature. I had occupied the afternoon 
of the previous day in visiting the Victoria Garden, 
which is a fine though not very carefully-cultivated 
botanical garden. It cannot indeed be compared in 
richness and arrangement with other botanical gardens 
in India, but still it was there that I saw for the first 
time a number of the most beautiful and more vivid 
when in Elephanta, I saw the most important and 
characteristic Indian plants growing wild in an unarti¬ 
ficial state, with a luxuriance impossible to a limited 
garden. There clinging creepers and climbing Ferns 
clothed the mighty trunks of the Teak trees; there the 
noble Cocoa Palm bends its slender trunk and splendid 
feathery glittering crown above the seashore, which is 
bordered by bushes of the Pandanus,and secured by walls 
of Mangroves rooted in the water; there big Parasite- 
figs, Convolvulus, and other climbing plants, with large 
gay flowers, run up the straight black stems of the 
mighty Palmyra Palms, the proud summits of which 
with their fan-shaped leaves, are also covered with the 
climbing flowers. And there rise noble examples of 
the sacred Banyan; their mighty trunks are divided 
into an actual network of great roots, while from 
among the dark green leaves of the stout branches 
above hangs a mass of air roots, many of which reach 
•the ground, and taking root, form new supports for the 
mother crown. And look tliere ! a gigantic strangler 
(Parasite-fig) smothers a noble Palm with its network 
of twigs, and a few steps further stands a brother of 
this strangler, like a hollow cylindrical pillar without 
leaves, for the Palm it had embraced had died and de- 
