LILIACE^E. 305 



in the purchase of single bulbs of what was then regarded a 

 novelty or an acquisition. The extravagance manifested in our 

 day in the purchase of Orchids and other rare and expensive 

 plants seems parsimony as compared with that of the Tulip- 

 fanciers a couple of hundred years ago. We do occasionally 

 hear of an Orchid that will not be sold for a hundred pounds, 

 but we do not hear that it has met with a purchaser at that 

 price ; and yet that is a trifle when compared with the sums 

 (often as much as ;£5oo) given for the bulb of a Tulip in those 

 days. That must have been the kind of extravagance that sug- 

 gested the adage about a fool and his money, if it did not exist 

 before ; for it is diflicult to believe that any one in the posses- 

 sion of his senses could have been satisfied with such a bar- 

 gain. The varieties of florists' Tulips can now be had at a very 

 cheap rate, and are admirable materials for introducing into 

 mixed borders, shrubbery margins, and the spring flower-gar- 

 den on the " bedding" or massing plan. They are the progeny 

 of T. Ges?ieria?ia, a species indigenous to the Levant and south- 

 ern Europe. The Van Thol Tulips are the varieties of T. sua- 

 7'eokns, a native of southern Europe, and they too are gay sub- 

 jects for the spring flower-garden and for indoor embellishment 

 in pots in winter and spring. There are other species of Tulips 

 less showy than the varieties of these two species, perhaps, but 

 not less attractive in their simple and less pretentious beauty ; 

 and it is to some of these, as selected below, that I would draw 

 attention, rather than the gorgeous beauties that cost so dear 

 in past times. They are all hardy, and easily cultivated in rich 

 light loam well drained, and are increased by otfsets, but they 

 are best left undisturbed for several years. They like warm 

 sunny positions best, and are available for the front lines of 

 mixed borders, rockwork, and suchlike positions. Division 

 and replanting should take place immediately after the leaves 

 decline. 



T. Celsiana (Ce/s's T.) — This species grows from 6 to 12 

 inches high. The leaves are glaucous, channeled, and shorter 

 than the flower-scape. The flowers are yellow inside, greenish- 

 brown externally, and the petals are sharply lance-shaped and 

 spreading when fully expanded. Flowers in May and June. 

 Native of southern Europe, in Montpelier and Narbonne. 



T. Clusiana {Clusius's T.) — A charming species, about the 

 same stature as the last. The bulbs are small and covered with 

 down. The stems are erect, and exceed the length of the 

 leaves, which are narrow lance-shaped. The flowers exceed in 

 size those of the last species. The petals are broader lance- 

 shaped, reddish externally, — the three outer ones white on the 



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