IRN'EERGIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



877 



S. TANAK/t:. — From S. flexuosa this new 

 species is readily distinguished by its coarser, 

 more succulent growth and by its larger and 

 less-divided leaves. The flowers are small, 

 greenish, and scanty, but the autumn tints of 

 well-grown plants are gorgeous, and the stems 

 themselves take on a bright ruddiness which is 

 retained all winter and makes a pretty feature 

 at that season. Japan. 



STERNBERGIA {Lily-of-the- Field). 

 — Charming hardy bulbs with flowers of 

 firm texture, better able to withstand bad 

 weather than the Autumn Crocus, and 

 thus better adapted for our climate. One 

 source of failure with Sternbergias is mov- 

 ing them at the wrong time or before 

 growth has fully developed. What they ^ 

 want is thorough ripening in summer and 

 a slight protection, such as dry litter, dur- 

 ing the winter. In sandy loams, and fully 

 exposed to the sun, the bulbs will get the 

 necessary ripening without being lifted, 

 and the best plan is to leave them un- 

 disturbed until of flowering size. We have 

 them thriving on stiff soils and bloom- ! 

 ing freely for many years in the same 

 border. 



S. colchiciflora.— This is an old garden 

 plant, having been cultivated by Clusius 

 and Parkinson. Its fragrant, pale yellow 

 flowers come in autumn, perfuming, with 1 

 a Jessamine-scent, the fields of the Crimea ! 

 about the Bosphorus. The leaves are 

 narrow, and come with the fruit in spring. 

 The plants grow in dry exposed tracts of 

 the Caucasus and Crimea, and are hardy 

 in this country. S. dalniatica and 6\ 

 piilchcUa are varieties. 



S. Fischeriana is nearly allied, hardy, 

 and has the habit of 5. liitca, from which 

 it differs chiefly in flowering in spring 

 instead of autumn, and by its stalked 

 ovary and capsule. Caucasus. 



S. lutea. — This is the great autumn 

 Daffodil of Parkinson, and a very pretty 

 hardy plant, best on warm gravelly soils. 

 The absence of seed on this bulb in a 

 cultivated state is remarkable, seeing how 

 plentiful it is and how freely it flowers in 

 many parts of the country. The bulbs 

 must be large before they flower freely, 

 and imported bulbs being small, they take 

 a year or two to reach flowering size. S. 

 lutea has five or six leaves, each about 

 half an inch broad, about a foot long, ap- 

 pearing with the flowers in autumn. It 

 is supposed by some writers to be the 

 Lily of Scripture, as it grows abundantly 

 in the vales in Palestine. S. angusftfolia 

 appears to be a narrow-leaved form, very 

 free-flowering, and more vigorous than J?. 

 Ji/tca. 



S. grseca, from the mountains of 



Greece, has very narrow lea\es and broad 

 perianth segments. 



S. sicula is a form with narrower 

 leaves and segments than the type, while 

 the Cretan variety has considerably larger 

 flowers. 



S. macrantha. — This is a really hand- 

 some species, the leaves blunt and slightly 

 glaucous, about an inch broad when fully 

 developed about midsummer ; flowers 

 bright yellow in autumn. Asia Minor. 



The rarest of these Sternbergias should 

 have a place in our bulb borders, in gritty 



Sternbergia lutea. 



or open soil, associated with the rarer 

 Narcissi and choice hardy bulbs. Their 

 effect in masses near the shelter of walls 

 is very fine in autumn. 



STIPA {Feather Grass).- A large group 

 of grasses, the prettiest of which is 6'. 

 pe7inata. In bundles its beauty almost 

 equals that of the tail of a bird of paradise. 

 S.peiinata is hardly to be distinguished 

 from a strong stiff tuft of common Grass, 

 except in May and June, when the tuft is 

 surmounted by numerous gracefully-arch- 

 ing flower-stems, nearly 2 ft. high, and 

 covered with long, twisted, feathery spikes. 

 It loves a deep sandy loam, and may be 

 used either in an isolated position or in 

 groups of small plants, but its flowers 

 are too short-lived except for borders. 

 Division or seed. S. calainagrostis, S. 

 capillata, and S. clegai7tissima are other 

 good Feather Grasses. 



STOKESIA.— -S". cyanea is a handsome 

 hardy .American perennial, 18 to 24 in. high, 



