XXII 



RIVERSIDE LETTERS 



173 





many of my borders are quite pestered with 

 their young seedlings. The little Siberian 

 scilla also sows itself freely, 

 but the seedlings do not 

 spread so far and wide as 

 do those of the common 

 bluebell ; this is chiefly 

 owing to the different char- 

 acter of the stalks which 

 support the seed cases of 

 the two plants. The pod 

 of Scilla Siberica is large 

 and heavy, and its stalk is 

 weak and thin, so that the 

 pod when ripe lies on the 

 around and sheds its seed 



o 



close to the parent bulb. 



The seed cases of the wood 



hyacinth, on the contrary, are 



supported on a tall stiff stalk 



which rises well above the decaying foliage. 



The foliage itself, as it dies, falls over and 



forms a sort of circular inclined plane around 



Wood hyacinth 



