186 IXTRAORDINARY SPECIMEN OF DIELYTRA SPECTABILIS. 



color, pustulata, and their varieties are to be preferred. These are not to he met with 

 at every provincial nursery ; but they may be had in a dry state of most of the 

 London Florists and Seedsmen. 



Pendula is of very graceful drooping habit, and its leaves are beautifully blotched 

 with black ; its flowers resemble in their tints those of tricolor, but are larger, and 

 produced upon a stouter scape. The flowers of quadricolor resemble those of 

 pendula, but are much brighter in their tints ; those of pustulata are purple and 

 green, and the leaves of this species are curiously blistered. There are also a few 

 species with pale blue flowers ; of these, pallida and mutabilis are the best. The 

 former is sometimes kept by the Florists : we observe it in the Bulb Catalogue for 

 the present season of Mr. J. Carter, Seedsman, 238, High Holborn, who has, too, eight 

 or ten other species on sale. Those we have named are all spring flowers, blooming 

 from February to May. 



They usually commence their growth early in autumn ; and when it is necessary 

 to divide the clusters of bulbs, it should be done before the roots are protruded. 

 Three or four full-sized bulbs may be placed in a four-inch pot ; and the soil most 

 proper for them is a mixture of leaf-mould and sandy loam ; they are not, however, 

 very particular in this respect, almost any light, porous soils will suit them, but 

 those of a heavy, close, retentive character must be avoided. The pots must be 

 well drained with broken crocks, and in planting, the bulbs should be placed one or 

 two inches below the surface. For a month or six weeks they may be left exposed 

 out-doors, if placed on some hard matei-ial, but this exposure is not essential. 

 During the early stages but little water will be required ; when the leaves are far 

 advanced, larger supplies may be given, but care should be taken that the heart of 

 the plant is kept dry, or the enibryo flower-stalk may be injured. After flowering, 

 water should be gradually withheld ; and when the leaves are quite withered, the 

 pot may be placed away until the return of autumn. It is not necessaiy to divide 

 the bulbs each season, but the cluster shoidd be, in any case, repotted in fresh 

 soil. The bulbs of the Lachenalias are nearly hardy, but they can not be 

 recommended for cultivation in the open border, unless protected when in flower. 



EXTRAORDINARY SPECIMEN OF DIELYTRA SPECTABILIS. 



A correspondent of the Floricultural Cabinet gives an account of a remarkable 

 example of this beautiful plant, growing in the garden of a gentleman, at Lexden 

 Heath, near Colchester. It was planted in 1850, and was then only a few inches 



