BOUVARDIA (named after Dr. Charles Bouvard, formerly superintendent of the Jardin du Roi, at Paris). ORD. Rubiaceæ. Handsome greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Peduncles terminal, three-flowered, or trichotomous and corymbose; corolla funnel-shaped, tubular, elongated, beset with velvety papillæ outside, and a four-parted, spreading, short limb. Leaves opposite, or in whorls; stipules narrow, acute, adnate to the petioles on both sides. These extensively cultivated plants are among the most useful for conservatory or greenhouse decoration (see Fig. 270. for which we are indebted to Messrs. Cannell and Sons), and the flowers are largely employed in a cut state. Perhaps only two are fragrant, viz., jasminiflora and Humboldtii. Cultivation: Presuming the grower to be commencing with young rooted cuttings, these should be potted off into a mixture of good fibrous loam, leaf soil, and sand, in equal proportions, to which may be added a small quantity of peat; they should then be placed in a temperature of from 70deg. to 80deg. until fully established in the small pots. It is necessary at this stage to stop the young plants back to the first joint, and as they continue to make fresh breaks, to keep on pinching them back during the whole period of cultivation, or until sufficiently bushy plants are produced. Many growers neglect stopping far too much, the result being ill-shaped and almost flowerless plants. The pinching, of course, can be regulated by the time the plants are required to flower; and it is unwise, in most cases, to stop them after the end of August. When the small pots are well filled with roots, the plants should be shifted into the flowering pots, viz., large 48-sized, which are quite commodious enough to grow very fine plants, a similar compost as in the first potting, with a little Standen's manure added, being used, and good drainage provided. A cool greenhouse, with a damp bottom for the pots to rest upon, and with a moist atmosphere, is the most suitable place in which to grow them during late spring and early summer, the moist air being very desirable as an effectual check to red spider, a pest very fond of the foliage, which it permanently disfigures. A cold pit or close frame is better during the summer months, as a moist atmosphere and cool bottom are then certain. Ventilation may be effected during the greater part of the day by tilting the lights below, and on fine nights they may be removed altogether. During bright sunshine, shading will be beneficial. All through the period of active growth, it is absolutely necessary that the plants should receive plenty of water, or they will surely suffer; and when the pots are filled with roots, occasional doses of manure water will be beneficial. Many cultivators plant them out about the end of June, in favoured situations, or in spent hotbeds, when they make very vigorous growth; and, if carefully pinched and watered, fine specimens are obtained. These are lifted in early autumn, with a good ball, potted, and kept shaded for a few days until the roots are again active, when they are taken to the house in which they are intended to bloom, and an enormous supply of flowers is secured. We have also seen Bouvardias planted out permanently in beds, in prepared pits, in which the winter temperature was not less than 55deg., with very satisfactory results; the quantity of bloom being very great. Of course, with the last-named treatment, it is essential to give the plants a rest and hardening-off after flowering, and when they are started into fresh growth to keep them well pinched and watered. Bouvardias are liable to the attacks of red spider and green fly. The former stands little chance of existence if the plants are kept well supplied with moisture; the latter may be destroyed by fumigating with tobacco. Mealy bug are also troublesome, and should be sponged off with a solution of Gishurst's Compound. Propagation: After flowering, and a slight rest and hardening-off, the old plants should be cut back, placed in heat, in a stove or cucumber pit, and freely syringed, which will cause them to break freely, and produce a good supply of cuttings. When the young shoots are from 1½in. to 2in. long., they are in the best condition for striking. It is not necessary that they should be cut off at a joint, as they will root from any surface of the stem; and, working economically, it is wiser to cut them off just above the first joint, as other shoots will speedily break out, which may, in their turn, be taken. Pots about 5in. across should have previously been prepared for the cuttings, by being well drained and filled with a mixture of good fibrous loam, leaf soil, and coarse sand, in equal parts, with a copious supply of sand upon the surface, into which the cuttings should be dibbled pretty thickly. A good watering must be given without wetting, and thereby injuring, the foliage. The pots should be plunged in the cutting case, or in any bottom heat of about 70deg. or 80deg., and covered with a bell glass. All that is then necessary is to keep them moist and shady during sunshine, until they are rooted, which, as a rule, is effected in three weeks' time. When well established, they may be removed from the case, gradually hardened off, and finally potted singly into small thumb pots.
B. angustifolia (narrow-leaved).* fl. pale red; corymbs somewhat trichotomous. September. l. three in a whorl, lanceolate, with revolute edges, glabrous above, but beset with fine hairs beneath. Branches terete, smoothish. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1838. (P. M. B. 7, 99.)
B. Cavanillesii (Cavanilles's). fl. red; peduncles terminal, trifid, three-flowered. May. l. opposite, ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, rather villous beneath. h. 1½ft. Mexico, 1846. SYN. B. multiflora. (J. H. S. 3, 246.)
B. flava (yellow).* fl. yellow, drooping; racemes three to five-flowered; pedicels downy, slender. March. l. opposite, ovate-lanceolate, ciliated; stipules setaceous. h. 1½ft. Mexico, 1845. (B. R. 32, 32.)
B. hirtella (hairy). fl. pale red or flesh-coloured, corymbose. l. whorled, lanceolate, with revoluted edges, hairy on both surfaces. Branches terete. Mexico.
B. Humboldtii corymbiflora (Humboldt's corymb-flowered).* fl. white, large, fragrant, disposed in terminal racemes; tubes long. Autumn and winter. l. ovate, oblong-acuminate, dark green. 1874. One of the finest kinds in cultivation. (G. C. 1873, 717.)
B. Jacquini (Jacquin's). A synonym of B. triphylla.
B. jasminiflora (Jasmine-flowered).* fl. white, fragrant, in compound cymes; very floriferous. Winter. l. opposite, elliptic-acuminate. South America, 1869. A very charming and largely grown species. (G. C. 1872, 215.)
FIG. 271. BOUVARDIA LEIANTHA.
B. leiantha (smooth-flowered).* fl. scarlet; corymbs sub-trichotomous. July to November. l. ternate, ovate-acuminate, slightly hairy above, downy-villous beneath. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1850. See Fig. 271. (B. H. 2, 6.)
B. longiflora (long-flowered).* fl. white, terminal, solitary, sessile, with the tube 2in. or 3in. long. l. opposite, oblong, acute, cuneated at the base, glabrous. Branches compressedly tetragonal, glabrous. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Mexico, 1827. (B. M. 4223.)
B. multiflora (many-flowered). A synonym of B. Cavanillesii.
B. triphylla (three-leaved).* fl. scarlet, nearly 1in. long; corymbs somewhat trichotomous. July. l. smoothish above, hairy beneath, three in a whorl, oblong. Branchlets trigonal, hairy. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Mexico, 1794. There are numerous varieties of this species. SYN. B. Jacquini. (B. M. 1854.)
B. versicolor (various-coloured). fl., corolla with a scarlet tube, which is ¾in. long, but having the limb yellowish inside; corymbs three-flowered, trichotomous, drooping. July to September. l. opposite, lanceolate, ciliated. Branches terete, glabrous, velvety while young. h. 2ft. to 3ft. South America, 1814. (B. R. 245.)
The garden hybrids are very handsome. A selection is given below:
ALFRED NEUNER, flowers double, white, or slightly tinged with rose (see Fig. 272); BRILLIANT, flowers bright crimson, numerous, freely branching habit, and strong constitution; DAZZLER,* habit very bushy and compact, extremely floriferous, flowers rich scarlet, in dense clusters; HOGARTH, brilliant scarlet, very fine; LONGIFLORA FLAMMEA,* flowers long-tubed, blush-rose; MAIDEN'S BLUSH,* very free and floriferous, blush-rose; PRESIDENT GARFIELD, rich double, red-pink, very fine; QUEEN OF ROSES, rosy-pink, the tubes tinted with crimson, habit dwarf and very free; VREELANDI (=DAVIDSONI), flowers pure white, produced in great abundance; one of the most useful of them all, and grown very extensively.
FIG. 272. BOUVARDIA ALFRED NEUNER.
BOWENIA (commemorative of Sir G. Bowen, Governor of Queensland). ORD. Cycadaceæ. A remarkable and handsome greenhouse fern-like plant, closely allied to Zamia, from which it is distinguished by having the leaflets decurrent to the petiole, instead of articulated, as in that genus. For culture, see Cycas.