Eriostemon
(from erion, wool, and stemon, a stamen; stamens woolly). ORD. Rutaceae. A genus of very handsome greenhouse evergreen shrubs. There are about thirty species, all (with the exception of a single species from New Caledonia) natives of extra - tropical Australia. Peduncles axillary, one-flowered, covered with imbricate bracts, or furnished with opposite or whorled ones in the middle. Leaves alternate, entire, simple, full of pellucid dots. Eriostemons are among the most useful and beautiful of Australian hard wooded plants whose flowering season is winter and early spring. All the species are well worth attention, the flowers being freely produced when the plants are healthy and well ripened. They are either white or pale pink, and last a long time in good condition, if kept in a cool temperature. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sandy peat, early in spring, covered with a bell glass, and placed in a gentle heat. When rooted, they should be hardened and potted off singly, to be transferred to larger sizes afterwards very gradually. The mode of propagation adopted by nurserymen on a large scale, is that of grafting, using for the purpose small stocks of Correa. This is a quick, and, as practised by them, a tolerably certain method. It is best for small growers to purchase such plants, as, by good culture, they soon form fine decorative subjects. Fibry peat, not broken too finely, with the addition of a little loam and silver sand, is a suitable compost. The soil should be rammed tolerably firm, care being taken not to bury the stem of the plant. Eriostemons succeed under the same treatment during the summer as many other Australian plants, namely, keeping a little close while the growth is being made, afterwards admitting more air, and finally placing outside, in a sunny position, from July until the end of September, in order to insure thorough ripening. The plants naturally form bush specimens, but may be trained as pyramids if desired. But little pruning, beyond shortening a few of the long growths, to induce a symmetrical habit, is necessary. In the case of large plants, whose flowers are used for cutting--a purpose for which they are well adapted--sufficient pruning may be performed simply by the removal of the longest flowering shoots. Efficient drainage and careful watering are at all times essential points towards success in cultivation. Eriostemons will flower earlier in winter if introduced into a temperature of about 55deg., but are quite as healthy and floriferous later on, if kept in a house from which frost is merely excluded. If old plants get out of health, it is advisable to prune back hard in spring, reduce the balls, and place them amongst new soil, in pots of a smaller size.
E. buxifolius (Box-leaved).* fl. pink or rose-coloured, axillary, almost sessile. April to June. l. small, cordate-ovate, or obovate, usually mucronate, with prominent glands. Branches round, pubescent. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1822. (B. M. 4101.) E. intermedius (intermediate).* fl. white, suffused with rosy-pink, large, solitary, axillary. April. l. obovate. h. 3ft. (B. M. 4439.) E. myoporoides (Myoporum-like).* fl. rose-coloured; peduncles axillary, trifid, three-flowered. Early spring. l. linear-lanceolate, quite entire, smooth, glandular, mucronate. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1824. (B. M. 3180.) E. neriifolius (Nerium-leaved).* fl. rose-coloured or pink; peduncles axillary, three-flowered. April. l. lanceolate, rather wrinkled, mucronate. h. 3ft. 1847.
E. salicifolius (Willow-leaved). fl. pink, axillary, almost sessile, solitary. July. l. linear-lanceolate, entire, smooth. Branches triquetrous. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1822. (B. M. 2854.) E. scaber (rough).* fl. white, tinged with pink, rather small; peduncles short. March to June. l. linear, entire, dark green, mucronate, glandular. h. 1 1/2ft. 1840. (P. M. B. xiii. 127.)