34 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 
BABIANA. 
All the Babianas have handsome flowers, and most 
of them have hairy leaves; the colors of their flowers are 
various, the blue predominating, but so brilliant that a 
splendid display for fully two months of the year may 
be had from these bulbs alone. They are all natives of 
the arid plains near the Cape 
of Good Hope, where they 
are exposed to alternate sea- 
, Sons of excessive rain and 
excessive drouth, the ground 
# during the dry season being 
f so loose and powdery that 
# the bulbs often lie partly 
bare, and exposed to the 
heat of the sun. All the 
kinds of Babiana are propa- 
gated by offsets or from 
seed; the rapidity wit.. which 
they may be multiplied by 
offsets makes this the better 
plan of propagation, partic- 
ularly as the varieties from 
seed are very variable. The 
only place for these bulbs is 
in the greenhouse, as their 
time for flowering is from 
February until May. A light, loose soil suits them best, 
and they require strong light and an abundance of water. 
The bulbs should be planted or repotted about the first 
of December, putting from ten to twelve in a six-inch 
pot; after pottine, withholl water until there is an 
appearance of growth, when it should be applied liber- 
ally, and the pots placed in position for flowering, After 
BABIANA RUBRO-CYANEA. 
