STENANTHIUM. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. STERNBERGIA. 73? 



pale-yellow flowers ; and 5. longi- 

 folium, with shorter square stems 

 clothed with narrow shining green 

 leaves, and crowned with heads of 

 bright yellow flowers. 



STENANTHIUM. A small group of 

 bulbous-rooted plants of the Lily 

 order, mostly from the Pacific coast 

 of N. America. The only species cer- 

 tainly in cultivation is 5. robustum, a 

 hardy plant 2 to 3 feet in height, with 

 graceful plumes of closely-packed, 

 creamy-white and fragrant flowers in 

 August. 



STEPHANANDRA. Graceful shrubs 

 allied to the Spiraeas. They like a good 

 loamy soil, well drained, but still 

 moist, and are some of the most easily 

 propagated of shrubs. Cuttings taken 

 towards the end of the summer before 

 the wood is too hard root readily, 

 they can also be increased by division. 

 When plants of 5. flexuosa which have 

 been growing long in one spot are 

 removed, quite a little thicket of young 

 plants will spring from the roots left 

 in the ground. 



S. FLEXUOSA. Although the earlier 

 introduced of the two species, this has 

 not long been in cultivation. It grows 

 3 to 4 feet high with us. It is chiefly for 

 its graceful habit and prettily cut foliage 

 that it is grown, though the soft red of 

 the young shoots in spring and the crim- 

 son-purple leaf tints in autumn render it 

 attractive through a long season. Japan 

 and Corea. 



S. TANAK^E. From S. flexuosa this new 

 species is readily distinguished by its 

 coarser, more succulent growth, and by 

 its larger and less-divided leaves. The 

 flowers are small, greenish, and scanty, 

 but the autumn tints of well-grown plants 

 are gorgeous, and the stems themselves 

 take on a bright ruddiness which is 

 retained all winter and makes a pretty 

 feature at that season. Japan. 



STERNBERGIA (Lily-of -the- Field}. 

 Charming hardy bulbs with flowers 

 of firm texture, better able to withstand 

 bad weathei than the Autumn Crocus. 

 One source of failure is moving them 

 at the wrong time, or before growth has 

 fully developed. What they want is 

 thorough ripening in summer and a 

 slight protection, such as dry litter, 

 during the winter. In sandy loams, 

 and fully exposed to the sun, the bulbs 

 will ripen without being lifted, and 

 are best left undisturbed until of 

 flowering size. 



S. COLCHICIFLORA. An old garden 

 plant, having been cultivated by Clusius 

 and Parkinson. Its fragrant, pale yellow 



flowers come in autumn, perfuming with 

 a Jessamine-scent the fields of the Crimea 

 about the Bosphorus. The leaves are 

 narrow, and come with the fruit in spring. 

 The plants grow in dry exposed tracts of 

 the Caucasus and Crimea, and are hardy 

 in this country. 5. dalmatica and 5. pul- 

 chella are varieties. 



S. FISCHERIANA. Nearly allied, is 

 hardy, and has the habit of 5. lutea, from 

 which it differs chiefly in flowering in 

 spring instead of autumn, and by its 

 stalked ovary and capsule. Caucasus. 



S. GR^ECA. Has very narrow leaves and 

 broad perianth segments. Mountains of 

 Greece. 



S. LUTEA. The great autumn Daffodil 

 of Parkinson, it is a very pretty hardy 

 plant, best on warm gravelly soils. The 



Sternbergia lutea. 



absence of seed on this bulb in a cultivated 

 state is remarkable, seeing how plentiful 

 it is and how freely it flowers in many 

 parts of the country. It is supposed by 

 some writers to be the Lily of Scripture, 

 as it grows abundantly in the vales in 

 Palestine. 5. angustifolia appears to be 

 a narrow-leaved form, very free-flowering, 

 and more vigorous than S. lutea. 



S. MACRANTHA. This is a really hand- 

 some species, the leaves blunt and slightly 

 glaucous, about an inch broad when fully 

 developed about midsummer ; flowers 

 bright yellow in autumn. Asia Minor. 



The rarest of these Sternbergias should 

 have a place in our bulb borders, in gritty 

 or open soil, associated with the rarer 

 Narcissi and choice hardy bulbs. Their 

 effect in masses near the shelter of walls 

 is very fine in autumn. 



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