ALLIUM. 
noticeable culture, if poked deep into good light soil in an open place ; 
and their beauty is such as to win admittance for the following (among 
such others, too, as shall in future sound worthy, with clear detailed 
promise of beauty), notwithstanding the unnegotiable evils of their 
savour: A. Moly, from shady woods of Spain, is very handsome, with 
broad glaucous leaves and loose heads of large golden flowers on 
stems of some 8 inches or more. This species spreads rapidly and is 
indestructible. A. coerulewum (A. azureum) has erect fine stems a 
foot high or more, with’delicate narrow foliage, and erect globes of 
bright blue in May and June. A. cyaneum is similar, but dwarfer and 
- altogether more refined, with hanging little heads; while its cousin 
A. kansuense (July) has flowers of a lovely bluebell tone (see Appendix). 
A. giganteum, from Central Asia, bears huge broad leaves, and then 
very tall stems, rising far above them, each crowned with a great ball 
of bright lilac-coloured flowers. A. Aschersonii is sometimes offered 
as A. orientale and A. Erdellii, under both of which names it proves a 
coarse and dowdy ugliness. A. haemanthoeides, from snow-level at 
10,000 to 13,000 feet in the Alps of Persia and Kurdistan, is a treasure 
still to be desired, for it is near in style to our own A. étriquetrum, but 
only 3 or 4 inches high, and with flowers twice the size, of gleaming 
white ; while not unworthy of comparison with this in beauty is the 
rose-coloured, round-headed A. Akaka, from meadows and earth-pans 
on the Alps of Turkish Armenia. On the other hand, A. Libani, though 
dwarfer, is as ugly as A. Aschersonii; but A. Schubertit (May, June) 
is one of the marvels of the family, with broad glaucous leaves, and 
rather short stout stems on which appear enormous heads of small 
pink flowers, with countless other flowers springing far out from the 
tight globe on every side. Unfortunately this shock-headed Garlic 
inhabits the fields of Palestine and Damascus ; accordingly it requires 
4 warm dry soil, and is not very trustworthy in our climate. Our own 
native A. schoenoprason, the Chives of more domestic language, is not 
without its value, too, in the garden ; nor will any one be ungrateful 
to its countless heads of rich violet purple when once they have seen 
it staining all the bogs of the upper Alps in an imperial splendour, 
growing specially fine, and with the most lavish jungles, in the wettest 
places. Into Cornwall also strays its improved variety, an even finer 
thing in size and colour of flower, which has sometimes been raised to 
specific rank as A. sibiricum (July to August). A. neapolitanum (June), 
from South Europe, is most favourably known in the race because it 
abhors the usual fashion and does not stink, while its loose heads of 
fine white flowers are gathered in stacks and exported to England 
for decoration. In cultivation A. neapolitanum is hardy, but requires 
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