BOUVARDIA  , a genus of handsome

evergreen greenhouse shrubs, belonging to the natural order Rubiaceae, and a native of tropical America . The flowers are in terminal generally many-flowered clusters; the corolla has a large tube and a spreading four-rayed limb . The cultivated forms include a number of hybrids . The plants are best increased by cuttings taken off in April, and placed in a brisk heat in a propagating frame with a close atmosphere . When rooted they should be potted singly into 3-in. pots in fibrous peat and loam, mixed with one-fourth leaf-mould and a good sprinkling of sand, and kept in a temperature of 70° by night and 8o° during the day; shade when required; syringe overhead in the afternoon and close the house with sun-heat . The plants should be topped to ensure a bushy habit, and as they grow must be shifted into 6-in. or 7-in. pots . After midsummer move to a cool pit, where they may remain till the middle of September, receiving plenty of air and space . They should then be removed to a house, and some of the plants put at once in a temperature of about 70° at night, with a few degrees higher in the daytime, to bring them into flower . Others are moved into heat to supply flowers in succession through the winter and spring .