Amaryllis tribe. A letter lately received from him by Mr. 

 Knight, states " that in 1814, he impregnated Amaryllis 

 vittata with the pollen of A. Regince ; the seed produced 

 was sown e*arly in 1815, and part of the offspring flowered 

 in 1818. The early flowers were most of them stripped 

 of their stamens, and impregnated with the pollen of Ama- 

 ryllis formosissima, and the seed obtained was sown part 

 in 1818, and part in 1819 ; the product of some of the 

 former blossomed in 1821, and afforded flowers variously 

 striped with red, pink, purple and white, and one different 

 from the rest, bearing its flowers erect, and blooming one 

 at a time in succession." The letter does not state to 

 which of these Mr. Knight's bulb belonged. And we can 

 hardly regard it as in any degree the product of Amaryllis 

 formosissima. 



These hybrid productions, so much in vogue at present, 

 are certainly capable of affording pleasing varieties to the 

 florist, but to the botanist they create a great deal of con- 

 fusion and uncertainty. It must be allowed, however, that 

 valuable physiological discoveries may be made by such 

 enquiries ; but to obtain satisfactory results, these expe- 

 riments should be made with much greater accuracy than 

 they seem hitherto to have been. Not only should the 

 species from which the pollen is supplied be carefully re- 

 corded, but care should be taken to prevent the possibility 

 of the access of other pollen ; and seeds of the mother 

 plant, from which all foreign impregnation has been care- 

 fully guarded against, should be sown at the same time 

 that the mere seminal varieties may be compared with the 

 hybrid productions. 



