Abstract
MOST people readily admit the value of cut blooms and growing plants for decoration of the home, but not all plants can make good growth in the somewhat trying conditions of the average dwelling-house. A recent publication of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, is entitled "House Plants" (No. 20, 1937, 35 cents). It has been written by Mr. R. van Tress, and maintains the well-known practical outlook of this Museum's publications. Such well-tried subjects as the Aspidistra (here called, most appropriately, the 'cast iron plant'), the small conifer Araucaria excelsa, various geraniums, and the india-rubber plant (Ficus elastica) are known to all. The leaflet also shows that hybrid species of Hippeastrum, Hydrangea, Poinsettia, Begonia, Azalea, Primula sinensis, heliotrope, the African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha), the shrimp plant (Beloperone guttata) and many others, including the common English ivy, are suitable for domestic conditions. They give greater and more varied beauty than the better-known species. Many illustrations enrich the leaflet, and there would seem to be no reason why the plants mentioned therein should not succeed in Great Britain as well as in the United States.
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Plants and the Dwelling-House. Nature 140, 420 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140420a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140420a0