Society in Regent Street, where it was much admired. 

 It is a very pretty herbaceous plant, although the flowers 

 have no colour brighter than green ; for it is covered over 

 with a delicate bloom, and the green shining glands on the 

 leaves of the perianth form a brilliant contrast with the dead 

 surrounding colour. The plant from which the drawing 

 was made had been grown in a pot, and had not gained 

 its proper size ; my wild specimens are from one and a half 

 to two feet high. 



It is a hardy perennial, flowering in July and August, 

 growing equally well in either loam or peat, and easily in- 

 creased by seeds or division of the roots. The seeds should 

 be sown about March, in pans, and placed in a cold frame 

 or pit; the seedlings will flower in the second or perhaps 

 third year after sowing. 



The species of this genus in England seldom produce 

 their flowers, and those generally from imported roots, 

 which seldom blossom well the second season. This is sup- 

 posed to be owing to the attacks of small black flies, which, 

 as in the genus Yucca, infest the plants when they are 

 coming into flower. If these insects are not destroyed when 

 they first make their appearance, they will soon cover the 

 flower-stems and flowers with a kind of gum or honey, and 

 the stems will become black with the numerous living and 

 dead insects. If this kind of honey-dew is allowed to remain 

 two or three days, it becomes hardened by the heat of the 

 sun, particularly if the season be very dry, and forms a kind 

 of varnish, which requires immersion in water before it 

 again becomes soft and capable of being removed. 



The best way to keep the plants clean, is to throw a few 

 lumps of fresh lime into a tub of water, stirring it well up, 

 and then leaving it two or three days to settle. When the 

 insects make their appearance, which will be about the 

 middle or end of June, the plants should be syringed all 

 over with the clear lime water ; this, if repeated three 

 or four times, and not oftener than once every two or three 

 days, will drive the enemy away. 



Fig 1. represents one of the leaves of the perianth, with 

 its double gland ; fig. 2. the pistil ; fig. 3. the same divided 

 perpendicularly, so as to shew the position of the ovules. 



