250 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PILANTS. 
PANCRATIUM. 
This is a genus of greenhouse or half-hardy bulbs, 
but little cultivated, from the fact that their beauty and 
usefulness is not proportionate to their price, or the cost 
of cultivation. The flowers are white, or greenish white, 
produced in large umbels, on a solid scape about two 
feet high. The species abound in the South of Europe, 
Africa, Arabia, and in several of the more southern of 
the United States. They all require greenhouse treat- 
ment, thriving best when planted in a rather light 
loamy soil. ‘They require a season of perfect rest, and 
are propagated by offsets. See engraving, Page 249. 
P. maritimum (Sea Daffodil).—This plant abounds 
on the coast of the Mediterranean, in the sands, where 
it has the burning rays of the sun and the cold winds 
from the sea. These conditions are difficult to furnish 
in the greenhouse, and to flower well it must have them. 
It seems to have been created for the position it fills in 
its native habitat, where it blooms most profusely. 
P. ovatum.—A native of the West Indies, and is 
the most beautiful of the genus, and a desirable green- 
house plant, bearing an umbel of fifteen to thirty pure 
white, sweet-scented flowers, most useful for cut flower 
decoration, while the plant in bloom is one of the most 
useful for decorative purposes. It is an easy subject to 
manage, and can be made to bloom twice in a season, by 
giving it complete rest soon after flowering, and a humid 
atmosphere when in growth. 
P. carolinianum.—Common on the Southeastern 
coast of North America from South Carolina to Florida. 
This is now considered a synonym of P. maritimum, 
the slight difference in habit being attributed to climatic 
influences. 
P. calathinum (Hymenocallis).— A native of 
Brazil, with pure white, fragrant flowers; this is listed 
