NELUMBIUM 



THE BT'LB BOOK 



NEKINE 



it exists in a wild state from India 

 and Ceylon to China and Japan. 

 In the last-named country several 

 forms have been raised, such as album 

 jf. jA., with pure white double Mowers ; 

 album striatum, flowers white, edged 

 and streaked with crimson ; grandi- 

 florum album, flowers pure white, 

 very large ; Kerm^inum, deep rosy 

 carmine ; Osins, rosy crimson ; 

 pekineiue ruhrum, rich reddish- 

 purple ; roseumjl. pi., pale rose, very 

 double ; Shiroman, fine double, 

 creamy white to pure white. 



Although in Southern France .\'. 

 gpeciosum and its varieties may be 

 gT0"mi in the open air in lakes, etc., 

 they are too tender for that purpose 

 in the British Islands. It Is better to 

 grow them in warm and moist houses 

 the rhizomes being embedded in rich 

 loam and manure. A jjeculiarity of 

 the Nelumbiums is the fact that it 

 is impossible in the ordinary way to 

 wet the huge leaves. Water when 

 applied immediately forms large 

 globules which roll off the surface like 

 big drops of quicksilver. 



37 



NEMASTYLIS (nema, a thread ; 

 st}/los, a column ; in reference to the 

 slender style). Nat. Ord. Irideae. — 

 A small genus of bulbous plants with 

 narrow or roundish sword - like 

 sheathing leaves and small flowers. 

 They are natives chiefly of Mexico 

 and X. America, and are fairly hardy 

 in the milder parts of the Kingdom. 

 If grown in a well-drained gritty soil 

 enriched with well-decayed manure, 

 they will do well. The only species 

 of any note appear to be N. ccelestina, 

 with bright blue flowers on stems 

 about 2 ft. high in May and June 

 {Gartevfl. t. 1081, fig. 1); and N. 

 geminiflora (or X. acuta), which some- 

 what resembles a Tigridia. It has 

 narrow leaves, grows about 2 ft. 

 high, and in May and June produces 

 its rather fleeting purpHsh - blue 

 flowers from twin spathes {Bot. 

 Mag. t. 6666), N. Pringlei grows 

 only about 8 or 9 ins. high, and has 

 sky-blue flowers. 



NERINE (after XeHne, a water- 

 nymph). Xat. Ord. Aniarj'llideae, — 

 A genus of ornamental bulbous plants 

 Avith long narrow leaves often pro- 

 duced after the flowers have faded. 

 The flowers are borne in umbels on 

 top of erect slender scapes, and are 

 funnel - shaped with more or less 

 spreading oblong lance-shaped, more 

 or less wa\'y segments, which are 

 often recurved. 



The Nerines are all natives of S. 

 Africa, and are generally grown in 

 pots in cool greenhouses. They like 

 a compost of sandy loam with a little 

 peat or leaf-mould, and flower better 

 if not given too much space. Indeed, 

 several bulbs may be placed close 

 together, and in this way, according 

 to the size of the pot, a better floral 

 display will be produced. A pecul- 

 iarity about Xerines is that they 

 vegetate during the winter months; 

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