Graptophyllum
(from grapho, to write, and phyllon, a leaf; referring to the markings on the leaves). SYN. Earlia. ORD. Acanthaceae. A genus comprising four or five species of ornamental stove evergreen glabrous shrubs, natives of Australia or the Pacific Islands. Flowers red, shortly pedicellate. Leaves opposite, entire or (in one species) spinose-dentate, generally spotted. The plants thrive in a compost of peat and loam. Cuttings of rather firm young shoots, taken with a heel, will root, if inserted in sand, under a bell glass, in heat.
G. Earlii (Earl's). fl. of a rich red, solitary in the axils, or in clusters of very few. l. oblong-elliptical, acute or mucronulate, entire, or with a few very small acute teeth. h. 10ft. to 15ft. A beautiful glabrous shrub or tree. Australia. SYN. Earlia excelsa.
G. hortense (garden).* Caricature Plant. fl. crimson, inflated at the throat, whorled, in axillary and terminal racemes. July and August. l. elliptical, variegated. 1780. (B. R. 1227, under name of Justicia picta.) This species-its native country is unknown-is largely cultivated throughout the tropics for the beauty of its foliage. A variety, with purplish leaves and blood-coloured veins, is figured in B. M. 1870, under name of Justicia picta lurido-sanguinea.
G. medio-auratum. A synonym of Aphelandra medio-aurata. GRASSES, ORNAMENTAL. Numerous annual species of Grasses are cultivated, for the double purpose of rendering mixed flower or shrubbery borders attractive in summer, and for the use of the spikes or panicles, in a dried state, intermixed with everlasting flowers, or arranged separately in vases by themselves, in winter. A few perennial species are equally attractive for similar purposes, notably Arundo conspicua, Gynerium argenteum (Pampas Grass), and Stipa pennata (Feather Grass). The annuals may be sown in any soil outside, in March or April; and if the spikes are intended for drying, they should be gathered on fine days before the seeds ripen, and gradually dried in a cool place. A selection of the best and most ornamental would include Agrostis elegans, nebulosa, and pulchella, Briza maxima and minor, Bromus brizaeformis, Eragrostis elegans, Hordeum jubatum, and Lagurus ovatus. It is advisable to treat many of the annual species as biennials; that is to say, sow the seeds in July or August. This is too late to allow the plants to flower the same year, but they make finer clumps, and produce larger spikes, the following season.