Hottes: Garden Gladioli 



501 



was G. ramosus {G. oppositijiorus b}" 

 G. cardinalis) crossed with G. psitiacinus. 

 This is substantiated by the fact that 

 the new form contained features from 

 each. Louis Van Houttc obtained the 

 stock and advertised it as G. gandavensis , 

 naming it from Ghent, Belgium, and 

 describing it in glowing terms as bearing 

 majestic flowers, numbering eighteen 

 to twenty, of the most charming 

 vermilion, the inferior petals adorned 

 with chrome, amaranth and brown. 

 He writes: "All Ghent comes to admire 

 it. In stateliness and color it exceeds 

 all others we have among Gladioli." 



Napoleon III was much interested 

 in the amelioration and introduction 

 of new plants, and so it was that 

 G. gandavensis came into the possession 

 of Souchet, gardener of the Emperor. 

 Souchct worked with it, developed by 

 hybridization and selection its form, 

 color, size and arrangement of flowers 

 until it became a valuable addition to 

 our garden plants. G. gandavensis can 

 be characterized as having many flowers 

 open at the same time, being of great 

 size and of good substance, having rich 

 colors, handsome and somewhat angular 

 form, often having light areas or 

 penciling in the throat. The flowers 

 are arranged in two rows on a tall spike 

 in such a way that each flower appears 

 attractive. The spikes are very erect 

 and quite stiff. 



Some few years previous to 1878 

 the species G. purpureo-auratus came 

 to the attention of that master French 

 horticulturist, Victor Lemoine, who 

 began to use it with improved forms 

 of G. gandavensis. By this time, the 

 grou]3 had been materially improved 

 by Souchet, Brunelet and Souillard. 

 Lemoine immediately realized the possi- 

 bilities of this species, which was 

 introduced into France in 1872. G. 

 piirpiirco-auratus is pale yellowish -green 

 and bears upon the lower segments of 

 the flower admirable diamond-shaped 

 blotches of maroon. The flowers are 

 bell-shaped, rather hooded, pendant, 

 far aj^art and face one direction. The 

 foliage is somewhat glaucous, narrow 

 and stiff. The stems are slender, wiry 

 and inclined to be curved. The corms 

 bear many short underground stems 



PRINCEPS 



This amarvllis-like gladiolus is one of 

 2,000 "produced by Dr. W. Van 

 Fleet; its interesting pedigree can 

 be seen at the end of the text. In 

 color it is rich crimson with a 

 magnificent, large, white throat. 

 From the "Modern Gladiolus 

 Grower." (Fig. 7.) 



tipped by clusters of cormels. The 

 flower was not beautiful, but Lemoine 

 realized that combinations of the G. 

 gandavensis varieties with this new 

 species wotild result in something tiniqtie. 



lemoine's hybrids 



In 1878 Lemoine exhibited at the 

 International Exhibition at Paris a 

 number of the.se hybrids and called 

 them G. lemoinei. The stems are wiry, 



