THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



9 



filaments, among which, the little, in- 

 conspicuous, sedj^e-lilce spikes of 

 flowers ara produced. The stems, 

 which are from four to six feet high, 

 are not ria^id, so as to stand perfectly 

 erect, or half the beauty of tlie plant 

 would be lost ; but they droop grace- 

 fuUy, and bend before every breath 

 of the summer zephyr. The plant 

 grows naturally by the sides of rivers, 

 with its roots immersed in the water ; 

 we have alre'^dy said iU stems are 

 triangular, and one traveller asserts 

 that these stems always present one 

 of their angles to the course of the 

 stream, as if to break the force with 

 which the water would strike upon 

 the plant if one side of the triangle 

 were presented to it. This may, or 

 may mt, be true, we have never seen 

 it growing in a state of nature, and 

 therefore cannot affirm that it is 

 true, nor can we deny it. These 

 stems are thrown up by the creeping 

 rhizome which spreads along the sur- 

 face of the soil, and like all plants 

 having a similar habit of growth it 

 may readily be increased by division. 

 Under cultivation it requires a stove- 

 heat, but during the summer months 

 might be removed to a conservatory 

 without the slightest fear of its being 

 injured. In the neighbourhood of 

 Berlin we have seen it planted out of 

 doors in summer, and a most beauti- 

 ful object it male; but it is somewhat 

 doubtful if the heat of our summers 

 would be sufficient to allow of the 

 same practice being carried out iu 

 England. "We can easily fancy that 

 where the conservatory is furnished 

 with one or more vases kept gay with 

 flowering plants, nothing could be 

 found so suitable for the centre plant 

 of such a vase as Papyrus antiquorum. 

 It would make quite an original fea- 

 ture. Its culture is as simple as it is 

 possible to conceive that of any plant. 

 It should be potted in a compost of 

 rough loam and peat, with a litde 

 dung or leaf-mould, well rotted, mixed 

 with it. In summer it cannot be kept 

 too moist, it may even stand in a pan 

 of water, and when the pot is full of 

 roots a little weak liquid manure is 

 very beneficial, as we can, from 

 experience bear witness. During 

 winter it need not be kept more moist 



than ordinary stove plants. It is at 

 least sixty years ago since this plant 

 first found a home iu our gardens, but 

 it is not common for all that ; its great 

 beauty and elegance have been over- 

 looked, and probably there are not 

 half a dozen nurserymen in the country 

 who could supply it. Those who have 

 once seen it well grown must have 

 been charmed by it ; it requires only 

 to be kn )wn to he appreciated. When 

 we recollect how long it has been in 

 the country without having become 

 generally cultivated, we must also 

 keep in mind that it is only within the 

 last five or six years that plants liave 

 been grown for the sake of their fqliage, 

 or for their graceful habit ; showy 

 flowers were the only things cared for 

 before that time. 



Papyrus antiquorum was formerly 

 verv common in Egypt, by the banks 

 of the Nile, it is in fact the '■' bullrush," 

 so often mentioned in Holy Writ ; it 

 also occurs under thenameofthepaper- 

 reed. The following extract concern- 

 ing this plant is from a work entitled 

 " Letters from t!ie East," by Mr. W. 

 A. Bloomfield, a botanist of no mean 

 repute, who died while on his way 

 home fromEgvpt and the Holy Land. 

 The extract shows that the denuncia- 

 tions against Egypt, made by Isaiah, 

 have been fulfilled even to the minutest 

 detail. The author says, " The Lotus 

 flower and Papyrus have both dis- 

 appeared from the rivers and marshes 

 of Egypt; the rumour of the Papyrus 

 still liDgering in the vicinity of Lake 

 Menzalet, proving, it seems, a mistake, 

 another species having been con- 

 founded with the true Papyrus of 

 antiquity, which is P. antiquorum 

 {Cyperus Papyrus oiJAnnsiVLi). Poor 

 Egypt ! How has she been shorn of 

 alt her boasted splendours, even to 

 her very garlands of Lotus flowers ; 

 and how literally have the words of 

 the Prophet been fulfilled in the 

 single and apparently unimportant, as 

 iu so many more remarkable and 

 weighty instances ! 



'• And they shall turn the rivers 

 far away ; and the brooks of defence 

 shall be emptied and dried up : the 

 reeds and flags shall wither. The 

 paper reeds by the brooks, by the 

 mouth of the brooks, and every 



