36 ALSTBCEMEEIA VAN HOrTTEII. 



when in flower, the stems, being somewhat feeble, must be supported by neat 

 sticks. 



After flowering, if seeds are desired, the plant must still be freely watered, or the 

 seed-vessels will wither ; and this remark applies equally to many other plants, 

 which it is but too common to neglect, when they will no longer repay us for our 

 attention by their beauty. With the precaution just noted, the plant will ripen 

 abundance of seed, by which it may be easily increased. If sown as soon as ripe, 

 the seeds vegetate readily, especially when aided by a little bottom heat ; but unless 

 the young plants can be kept in a growing state through the winter, by preserving 

 them in a greenhouse, it will be advisable to defer sowing until spring, as the 

 young tubers would, in all probability, shrivel and perish, if allowed to become dry, 

 and, from their immature condition, they would scarcely survive an exposure to the 

 vicissitudes of our winter. In any case, a light sandy soil, with a small admixture 

 of vegetable matter, is to be preferred for raising the plants, and, as the seeds are 

 rather large, they may be covered with half an inch of earth. When sown in 

 spring, and forwarded on a hot-bed, a few of the seedlings will, perhaps, flower the 

 same season ; but, in general, the tubers will not produce blossoms until the second 

 year. 



The plant may be also propagated by dividing the tubers, which increase freely ; 

 but we do not recommend that this be done too frequently, as a large clump of the 

 plant is far more effective than single specimens. 



It may, if desired, be cultivated in large pots, but will then require dividing 

 every season, or the long, white, fleshy roots will so coil round and fill up the 

 bottom of the pot, that it will be impossible to remove them without injury. The 

 better to accomplish this, a disc of tile or slate should be placed at the bottom of the 

 pot, before placing in it the ordinary fragments employed to ensure drainage ; and 

 when it is desired to turn out the tubers, this may then be easily effected by pushing 

 up the tile by applying the finger to the orifice at the under surface of the pot. 



The Amaryllids, to which order the Alstrcernerias belong, bear a general 

 resemblance to the Lily- worts, but are very readily distinguished by their inferior 

 ovary or seed-vessel. 



The whole of the species of Alstroemeria are remarkable for their resvpinate leaves, 

 the footstalks being twisted so that the upper surface of the leaf is downwards ; 

 and in the case of the present species, another circumstance, of more easy explana- 

 tion, is worthy of note. The stamens, it will be observed from our figure, are most 

 of them considerably longer than the style, and in order, therefore, that the fertili- 

 zation of the ovules may be effected, the filaments are, at a certain stage of their 

 growth, curved upwards and inwards, so as to bring the pollen of the anthers into 

 close contiguity with the three-cleft stigma. 



In addition to the species now described, we would recommend as exceedingly 



