December 22, 1906 



HORT I culture: 



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The Cycles of the Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) 



Amaryllis is the name of u chariaing eouutry girl to 

 be found in the verses of Theocritus and Virgil. The 

 time — three or fonr hundred years before the Christian 

 era. Hippeastrum comes from hippeus, u knight; and 

 astron, a star — the Star Knight. Their popular names 

 arc the Lily of the Gods, the Palace Lily, the Forest 

 Flamingo, the ruma's J.amp, the Parrofs Companion. 

 Mexican l^ily. Besides these, in the order of Am- 

 aryllideiE, are Brnnsvigia, Crinum, Griifinia, Kerine, 

 Sprekelia (the Lih- of the Knight of St. James), Stern- 

 bergia, Vallota (Scarborough Lily), and Zephyrantlies. 



Before proceeding I am compelled to call attention to 

 the fact of how much and how frequently we are in- 

 debted to some individual for the exploitation of some 

 beautiful gems of plants, without which they mutely 

 exist in their unrecognized beauty. In this noble order 

 of Anuu-yllidere it is to the Rev. Dean Herbert we are 

 indebted more particularly. He (like so many good 

 men of religion such as our good IDean Hole with the 

 rose) was determined that the whole Amaryllidea; 

 should be roecgnized and m&Ae popular, so we may very 

 advantageously turn liack a few pages and learn what 

 has been so nobly done. 



The first collection of amaryllis I remember seeing 

 was in company with my father on a Sunday in 1848 or 

 '49 at the end' of March, at Squire Holford's, Weston 

 Birt, G!o\u-e.'^ter. after a drive of twenty-five miles. In 

 a lean-to greenhouse, ]irobably 25 feet long and 14 or 15 

 feet wide, was a stage of eight or nine shelves, one 

 above the other, on the .back; on the front a bench 2 1-2 

 feet wide, and here, mixed among early pelargoniums 

 and Dutcli bulls were nearly one hundred amaryllises 

 in flower. 1 remember the aulica (red and green), 

 psittacina (tlie parrot), and the blue grilTuiia. and I 

 wondered whether 1 should ever see anything as beau- 

 tiful again or ever ow'n any or even one like these. 

 Happy day ! The greenhouse roof of tliick, heavy raft- 

 ers carried 3-feet-wide sashes; there were two on each 

 rafter, the top one sliding down. The size of the glass 

 was 6x4 inches. Built in the time of taxes on glass 

 this greenhouse was a noted one. The only windows 

 or other glass structures that did not pay taxes were 

 dairy windows and cheese room windows, each having 

 to bear their sign in black letters on white ground. 

 There were no greenhouse builders advertising as in our 

 day. 



There are some species of amaryllis (I believe I'll 

 call them all amaryllis because when in 1867" Pearce sent 

 from Peru pardina did not Sir W. Hooker name it 

 amaryllis pardina ? It's the name by which I knew them 

 first, and John Cowell tells me that plants don't care 

 what thev are called if they have enougli to eat and 

 drink) which should bo in every collection however lim- 

 ited. I mean that whosoever is interested in them ought 

 to have the family well represented by these typical 

 forms. 



A. BeMadoiina — Belladonna Lily — flowers, 4 to 5 

 inches long, tubular, 2 1-2 to 3 inches wide, ])roduced 

 in umbels on strong plants, fifteen or twenty or more, 

 sometimes three and more stems from one bulb : colors 

 varying from nearly pure white to reddish purple: 

 leaves long, rather narrow, recurved ; flowers in autumn 

 before the leaves appear which are made during the 



winter. 'J'lu^ i.~ a glorious plant for the -outiiern states, 

 California and Florida. West Indies, ni2. 



A. aulica — flowers large and truly handsome; petals 

 unequal, broadly acuminati*, sharply pointed; colora, 

 red, crimson, shot purple green at base, margins clouded 

 red and green; scapes from 1 1-2 to 2 feet liigh; leaves 

 broad, thick, leathery, bright green, arching; a noble 

 plant. The var. platypetala is also beautiful. Rio 

 Janerio, 1820. 



A. equestre (the Barbadoes Lily) — flowers of the type 

 orange green, exquisitely shaped, the recurved top 

 petals simply charming. Other very handsome forms 

 of Equestre are fulgida, orange margined white; Acre 

 pleno, rich orange, quite double; Albcrti, flowers much 

 larger and more double than flore pleno; ignescens, 

 bright scarlet, with white throat, center of petals also 

 marked with white. All the Equestres are desirable, 

 neat and pretty plants. The type from Cuba, 1710. 

 Other forms have been introduced since. 



A. pardina (leopard spotted) — one of the most beau- 

 tiful among all genera. Flowers more than 6 inches in 

 diameter; very spreading, scarcely any tube; ground 

 color rich creamy white overlaid with a fine net work of 

 delicate green, profusely dotted with rich scarlet and 

 blood-red crimson. Peru, 1866. 



A. Loopolde — The king of all amaryllis as a species. 

 It is like auratum among the hlies. All the petals are 

 nearly of equal size, very broad and nearly flat ; scarcely 

 any tube; center of flower richest velvety crimson, with 

 a suspicion of green at the base; margins wide and, but 

 for a tinge of misty green, they are pure white. The 

 centre of the flow^er is a six-pointed crimson star. What 

 a gem! Peru, 1869. 



A. Regina. — One of the earliest introductions from 

 South Mexico, 1728. Flowers large and spreading; 

 color deepest crimson and light orange, with starry cen- 

 ter of creamy white. A fine plant, long to be remem- 

 bered. 



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( To be Continued ) 



Berberis Repens 



Most of the broad-leaved evergreens are failures in 

 the West. The dry air of winter is too much for them. 

 We cannot raise holly, azalias, kalmias and rhododen- 

 drons, but in the Rockies and in the Black Hills Nature 

 has furnished a very good substitute in the Berberis 

 repens or holly-leaved creejiing barberry. Generally 

 these come through the winter all right; a little shelter 

 on the south is a help. The common name is Oregon 

 grape. They grow in great masses in the Rockies, 

 'riiey have large spikes of yellow fiowers of marvelous 

 fragrance which loads all the air and you seem wading 

 in it. It seems to do well all through the West. Years 

 ago it was tried in the Arnold .\rboretuni, but the 

 plants were from the western slope and were not as 

 hardy as those frmu tlie eastern slope or from tlM 

 Black Hills. 



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