244 FLORA HISTORICA. 



Soon after this flower was brought into notice, 

 the fields of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, and 

 Germany were all successfully searched for varieties, 

 and the different kinds were brought into this 

 country to ornament the parterres of our ancestors. 

 "Within these last fifty years it has been discovered, 

 growing in a wild state in this country. This cir- 

 cumstance was first mentioned by Mr. Blackstone, 

 who states that it grew in Mawde fields, near 

 Hislip common, Middlesex, and was observed there 

 by Mr. Ashby, of Beakspears, for a number of 

 years. It has since been found between Mortlake 

 and Kew, where the plant was formerly called 

 Snake' s-head, and on account of its growing plen- 

 tifully in a particular pasture of that neighbour- 

 hood, there is a field called SnakeVhead meadow. 

 These plants have a solid bulb or tuber, about the 

 size of a hazel nut. These are increased annually 

 by offsets, which should not be disturbed oftener 

 than every third year. Miller observes that new 

 varieties can only be raised from seed ; and that by 

 sowing the seeds, a larger stock of these bulbs will 

 be obtained in three years, than can be procured 

 by the increase of their bulbs in twenty years. 



The seed should be sown as soon after it is ripe 

 as possible, in shallow boxes filled with light fresh 

 earth, on which the seeds should be thickly scat- 

 tered, and then covered with sifted mould, not 



