276 AMARYLLIDE^. 



three rather large bright-yellow flowers, which open in May 

 and last till July. 



S. grandiflorum {Large-flowered S.) — A very beautiful little 

 plant, growing about 6 or 9 inches high, with very narrow 

 lance-shaped leaves. The flower-stems are round, and support 

 usually two or three very large cup-shaped, deep, reddish-purple 

 flowers, opening in April, May, and June. There is a very 

 important white-flowered variety, an excellent companion to the 

 purple. The roots are tuberous, and the plant is fond of peat : 

 it is one of the hardiest. 



S. odoratissimum {Most-frag7-ant S.) — This species is not 

 hardy enough to endure the winter in all parts of Britain. It 

 grows about i foot high, with round stems and narrow milky- 

 green leaves, sharply pointed. The flowers are borne in small 

 trusses at the top of the stems. They are white, with long 

 tubes, and highly fragrant. They open in June and July. 

 Worthy of, and requires, a fine sunny position. 



AMARYLLIDE.'E. 



This is a splendid order of bulbous-rooted plants. The 

 greatest number of the species are greenhouse and stove bulbs 

 of most brilliant beauty, and a good many are half-hardy and 

 adapted only for culture in warm borders in front of hothouses 

 or greenhouses ; there remains, however, a large group of beauti- 

 ful and fragrant species that are hardy and adapted to culture 

 in the open air in all parts of the country, and from these only 

 are the following selections made. Not one-tenth of the genera 

 of the order can be included in this hardy gi'oup ; but the names 

 Nai'cissus, Snowdrop, Leiicoju??!, and Alst?'ce??ieria, which yield 

 the largest number of the hardy species, will be a sufficient 

 gauge of its value to the hardy-flower gardener without further 

 comment. The Aviai-yllidece. are very commonly confounded 

 with the much more extensive and more heterogeneous LiliacecR 

 in gardens. The best general distinctive feature lies in the 

 position of the ovary in relation to the perianth or flower : in 

 Amai-yllidecB the ovary is inferior — that is, under the perianth ; 

 in Liliaccce it is superior, or detached from the perianth. 



Alstrcemeria. — This is a succulent tuberous-rooted group of 

 very distinct aspect, and beautifully as well as singularly coloured 

 flowers. They are free-flowering plants, adapted for culture in 

 the mixed border. There is a not uncommon impression that 



