PARNASSIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PARROTIA. 



appearance, i to 2 feet high, with a neat 

 habit, and useful for cutting. The 

 flowers are 2 to 3 inches across when 

 fully open, and a soft orange or terra- 

 cotta colour. Morocco and S.W. Europe. 



P. SOMNIFERUM (Opium Poppy). An 

 annual stately and showy with large 

 flowers, the foliage grey-green, flowers 

 variable in form and colour, rank in smell 

 and useless for cutting, but of good effect 

 when grouped boldly. The plants mostly 

 grow 2 to 3 feet high, with single flowers 

 ranging from white to deep crimson, and 

 double ones with heavy scarlet, white, or 

 striped flowers, of great beauty. Good 

 single kinds are Maid of the Mist, white 

 with finely fringed petals ; The Bride, 

 also white ; Flag of Truce, Miss Sherwood, 

 with pale pink edges ; Danebrog, a very 

 handsome flower in scarlet and white ; 

 and Mephisto, scarlet and black. The 

 double forms are yet more varied, includ- 

 ing those known as the Carnation and 

 Paeony-flowered Poppies, the first with 

 fringed petals, and the second with very 

 full broad ones. Favourite double kinds 

 coming fairly-true are Mursellii and Mur- 

 sellii splendens : Mikado, in white and 

 crimson ; Mary Campbell, very full and 

 finely fringed ; White Swan, also white ; 

 and Cardinal, with fiery red flowers, 

 very large and full, with fringed petals. 



P. UMBROSUM. A brilliant annual, 

 about 2 feet high, like the common field 

 Poppy, but of a darker red, and with a jet 

 black blotch at the base of each petal con- 

 spicuous both inside and out, making 

 masses of this plant showy in early sum- 

 mer. A compact form has arisen under 

 cultivation, and one with double flowers. 

 Seeds should be sown in autumn, in order 

 to secure strong plants for the ensuing 

 summer. Caucasus. 



P. ARENARIUM. A showy annual from 

 the Caucasus, bearing purple flowers with 

 dark spots. Other handsome Poppies, 

 such as Heldreichii and spicatum, both 

 from Asia Minor, with orange and brick- 

 red flowers respectively, are perennials of 

 easy culture. 



PARNASSIA (Grass of Parnassus). 

 Pretty perennials for the bog garden. 

 In our moist heaths and bogs Parnassia 

 palustris is frequent, and a very pretty 

 plant it is handsome enough to cul- 

 tivate in moist spots, where it will 

 grow as in its native haunts. Three 

 other kinds, natives of N. America, 

 are quite as showy. P. fimbriata has 

 large flowers with peculiar fringe-like 

 appendages, its kidney-shaped leaves 

 resembling those of P. asarifolia, 

 another hardy species, about 9 inches 

 high, which bears similar white flowers 

 without fringes. P. caroliniana differs 

 from P. asarifolia in having oval or 

 heart-shaped leaves ; it flowers about 



the same time, usually from the begin- 

 ning of July till the end of August. 

 These hardy Parnassias thrive best in 

 a moist peaty soil or a spongy bog. 

 Seed, division. Saxifrage order. 



Opium Poppies (Palaver somniferuni). 



PAROCHETUS (Shamrock Pea}. 

 P. communis is a beautiful little creep- 

 ing perennial with Clover-like leaves, 

 2 to 3 inches high, bearing in spring 

 Pea-shaped blossoms of a beautiful 

 blue. It is of easy culture in warm 

 positions on the rock garden and the 

 choice border, and where the climate 

 is too cold to grow it in the open air 

 it may be grown in a cold frame or 

 in baskets in the greenhouse. Division 

 or seed. Nepaul. 



PARROTIA (Iron Tree). Low 

 Hazel - like trees, natives of N. 

 India and Persia, less remarkable for 

 their beauty of flower than for fine 

 colour in autumn, when the leaves 

 give a mixture of crimson, orange, and 

 yellow, unique among hardy trees. 

 The best known is the Persian, P. 

 persica, which is hardy at least in 



