THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



691 



rich, deep, sandy loam, and are easily 

 multiplied by separating the bulbs every 

 third or fourth year. There are many 

 names, but few really distinct kinds. 



M. armeniacum is one of the best, 

 and its beauty is enhanced by its flower- 

 ing when most other kinds have finished 

 doing so. Its flower-stems are 8 in. high, 

 and are terminated by dense racemes 3 

 to 4 in. long, of bright dark blue flowers, 

 with small whitish teeth. The foliage is 

 much the same as the ordinary M. race- 

 mosum. Another beautiful kind is M. 

 Szovitzianum, which comes into bloom 

 early and continues in blossom till the 

 latest kinds have done flowering. The 

 blooms are a clear blue, the teeth of the 

 corolla white ; the spike oval and larger 

 than in other species. 



M. botryoides is a favourite bulb, with 

 little white teeth on blue globose clusters, 

 about 9 in. high, and suitable for the fronts 

 of borders. The varieties pallidum and 

 album are distinct and beautiful ; and 

 pallidum has pale sky-blue clusters. M. 

 Heldreichi resembles M. botryoides, but 

 is larger, and has a longer spike of flowers. 

 It also flowers later. 



M. comosum monstrosum {Feather 

 Hyacinth) is distinct from any of the fore- 

 going — I ft. or more in height ; its beauti- 

 ful mauve flowers, cut into clusters of 

 wavy filaments, bear some resemblance to 

 purple feathers. M. moschatum has 

 clusters of dull yellow flowers, incon- 

 spicuous, but its delicious fragrance amply 

 atones for this. Another sweet-smelling 

 Muscari is M. luteum, with flowers fading 

 by degrees from a dull purplish hue to a 

 clear yellow. 



M. racemosum is a familiar old kind, 

 with dark purple clusters and a strong 

 smell of Plums, its long and weak leaves 

 almost prostrate, while in M. botryoides 

 and its varieties the leaves stand erect. 

 It will hold its own anywhere, and will 

 wander all over the mixed border, grow- 

 ing like a weed, and in any soil. It has 

 near relatives in M. commutatum (with 

 blue flowers, darkening by degrees into 

 purple) and M. neglectum — also a hand- 

 some kind. There are several other 

 varieties mentioned in catalogues, but the 

 best are those mentioned above. Though 

 coming chiefly from the south of Europe, 

 they are all hardy, and grow in any posi- 

 tion in ordinary garden soil. 



MUTISIA.— Very curious and distinct 

 half- shrubby climbers from Peru, 

 Ecuador, and Brazil, and characterised 

 by a climbing habit and tendril-pointed 

 leaves. Other kinds are natives of 

 the Chilian Andes, and have simple 



leaves, rigid in texture, whilst the habit 

 is, as a rule, bushy and not climbing. 

 Almost every one of about forty species is 

 remarkable for the size and beauty of its 

 flower-heads. Plants which possess such 

 cjualities as these ought, one would think, 

 to be well represented in English gardens. 

 They are found at elevations sufficiently 

 high to admit of their being grown out-of- 



doors in England, or at any rate in the 

 warmer parts of the country, and yet the 

 Mutisias are scarcely known in our 

 gardens. Some few cultivators have been 

 successful with M. decurrens ; once or 

 twice M. ilicifolia has been grown and 

 flowered very well. M. Clematis is the 

 least delicate of the garden Mutisias. 



M, ilicifolia is a native of Chili, where 

 it grows over bushes. The plant has thin 

 wiry stems, and every part is co\ered with 

 a cobweb-like tomentum. The leaves are 

 about 2 in. long, the margins spiny- 

 toothed, the texture leathery, and the mid- 

 rib extending beyond the blade, branching 

 and forming a strong twining tendril. The 

 flowers are axillary, 3 in. across, with from 

 eight to twelve ray florets coloured pale 

 pink, or sometimes white with pink tips ; 

 the disc is lemon-yellow. It is a distinct, 

 interesting, and beautiful plant. 



M. decurrens.— Of this, the most beau- 

 tiful of the three garden Mutisias, a fine 

 plate will be found in The Garden for 

 1883, p. 553. Mr. Coleman has grown it 

 well amongst Rhododendrons at Eastnor 

 Castle ; Mr. Gumbleton, Mr. Hooke, Mr. 

 Ellacombe, and Kew have also had it irh 

 good condition. Most cultivators kill this, 

 species by planting it in a hot, sunny,, 

 dry position, where it gets leaked, and sooni 

 becomes sickly-looking, even if it lives. 

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