Hyacinthus indicus tuberosus flore Hyacinthi orientals. 



Bauh. Pin. 47. 

 Hyacinthus minor indicus tuberosa radice albus. Swert. 



Florileg. t. 14. / 2. Moris. Hist. 2. § 4. t 12./ 22. 



The first account we have of the Tuberose is from 

 Clusius, who received a miserable specimen of it.in Decem- 

 ber 1594; of which he has given a figure. All the syno- 

 nyms we have quoted after that of Clusius, are derived 

 from this source, and the figures quoted are mere copies of 

 that. There is no other authority for variety (3 ; it is pro- 

 bable, therefore, that the only real varieties are the tuberose 

 with a double flower, and the one with variegated leaves. 



It seems evidently to have been first brought into Europe 

 from the East-Indies, and hence it has commonly been said 

 to be a native of that country ; yet Mr. Salisbury, in his 

 elaborate account of this plant, in the first volume of the 

 Transactions of the Horticultural Society, has shewn that 

 there is no proof whatever of its ever having been found 

 wild in any part of the East ; but that it is a native of Mexico, 

 as appears from Hernandez, in his History of the Plants and 

 Animals of that Country. From thence it was probably 

 conveyed to the East-Indies, where the cultivation of it was 

 speedily and widely spread, for the sake of the fragrance of 

 its flowers, a quality held there in such high esteem. 



The English name, which seems absurd enough, is evi- 

 dently a corruption of the French Tubereuse ; the name by 

 which it was most probably imported into this country, as it 

 is said to have been first cultivated in the neighbourhood of 

 Toulon. 



The root of this plant is a solid tuber of an irregular shape, 

 sending forth lateral processes, upon which the buds of the 

 future plant are formed : these are real bulbs consisting of 

 concentric layers, as was long ago observed by Morison. 

 The flowers grow almost constantly by pairs, having a common 

 bracte to both, and a proper one to each. 



The roots are annually imported from Italy, and sold so 

 reasonably, that few persons are at the trouble of propagating 

 them here. Though Mr. Salisbury, from his own experience, 

 says that they might be propagated, especially in the warmer 

 parts of the island, with great advantage. The soil he recom- 

 mends as best suited to them, consists of light sandy earth, 

 mixed with one-third part of rotten cow-dung. 



Flowers the latter part of the summer. Communicated by 

 Messrs. Colville and Son, of the King's-Road. 



