94 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 
All the species are desirable border plants, as they are 
among the earliest of spring flowers, and remarkably 
showy. Most of the species are rich in spots or mark- 
ings; some are checked in the manner and as regular as 
the chess-board. All are of the easiest culture, and 
require only to be planted in any good soil moderately 
rich and made light. While they are included in our 
list of hardy bulbs, and are hardy in the general accepta- 
tion of the term, they are greatly benefited by a liberal 
mulching of leaves during winter, quite as much to pro- 
tect against alternate freezing and thawing, as against 
cold. The bulbs do not require frequent changing, but 
can remain a number of years after planting without 
removal. As they soon die down after flowering, annu- 
als or bedding plants can be planted in the same bed, 
thus keeping up a succession of flowers, without injury, 
in fact, with benefit to the bulb. There are many spe- 
cies and varieties. 
F. Meleagris.—This is the well-known Guinea-hen 
flower, a native of England, growing naturally in moist 
meadows or near rivers, and does not attain its full «ize 
if grown in dry soil. ‘There are several varieties, differ- 
ing only in the color of the flowers, which are variable 
from purple to nearly white. ‘The bulb is small, white 
and fiat, each bulb producing but a single flower. 
F. imperialis (The Crown Imperial). This spe- 
cies is a native of Persia, and was introduced into Eng- 
land previous to 1596, as Gerard mentions it in his 
Herbal of that date, praising it on account of ‘‘its stately 
beautifulness,” and accords it ‘‘the first place in the 
garden of delight.” This is the least cultivated, and, 
perhaps, the least known or popular of all the bulbs, yet 
it is one of the most noble of spring-flowering species, 
and should be found in every collection, no matter how 
small. It usually attains a height of from two to three 
feet, bearing an umbel of bell-shaped flowers, red or 
