Leaf Cuttings

“Many plans may be propagated by planting their leaves or portions of their leaves as cuttings, as, for example, the herbaceous Gloxinia (a) and Gesnera, the succulent Sempervivum, Echeveria, Pachyphytum, and their allies and such hard-leaved plants as Theophrasta (b). The leaves are best taken off with the base whole, and should be planted in well-drained sandy soil; in due time they form roots, and ultimately from some latent bud a little shoot which forms the young plant. The treatment is precisely like that of branch cuttings. Gloxinias, begonias, etc., grow readily from fragments of the leaves cut clean through the thick veins and ribs, and planted edgewise like cuttings. This class of subjects may also be fixed flat on the surface of the cutting pot, by means of little pegs or hooks, the main ribs being cut across at intervals, and from these points roots, and eventually young tubers, will be produced.” — Encyclopedia Britannica, 1893

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