PECULIAR ACTION IN CALLA LILIES. 



ii 



The garden, floriculture, domestic plants, suggestions for "the grounds beautiful,' inexpen- 

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PECULIAR ACTION IN CALLA LILIES. 



BY JOHN C. UHRUUB, "RIDGEWOOD/" 

 GLKNBROOK, CONN. 



I send to you specimens of calla lilies 

 grown in my greenhouse. The bulbs 

 were planted last October. Through 

 some accident in the heating apparatus 

 the temperature in the greenhouse was 

 below the freezing point, and the foliage 

 of the plants perished. The bulbs were 

 transplanted into another house and took 

 a long time to recuperate. By careful 

 nursing and rich fertilizing they at last 

 developed most luxuriantly, and in some 

 cases over-developed. 1 have had one 



perfectly double flower, and eight speci- 

 mens like the two sent you, in which an 

 ordinary leaf had turned into a semi- 

 flower though in each instance not even 

 rudiments of the propagating organs had 

 appeared. In a few instances leaves ap- 

 peared which showed only white points 

 or stripes, or half the leaf turned white ; 

 in a few instances the semi-flower 

 showed the characteristic curves or un- 

 dulations of the flower, while in others 

 the pseudo-flower was perfectly smooth 

 like this. In each instance the pseudo- 

 flower appeared on the same stem which 

 bore a perfect flower also. 



THE "FALSE" FLOWERS WITH "TRUE" FLOWERS. 

 It shows that the relationship of flower to leaf is very close. 



