212 BRECK'S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



E. Yaricgata. Variegated Spurge. A most elegant 

 species ; a native of Missouri and Arkansas Territory ; 

 an annual much cultivated now in gardens, and highly 

 esteemed ; flowering late in autumn, and remarkable for 

 its abundant variegated bracts or floral leaves. Leaves 

 oval entire ; wavy, edged with white ; capsules smooth ; 

 stems hairy. The seed must be sown early in April j it 

 is some time in vegetating. 



FRITILLARY. FRITILLARY. 



[From Fritillus, the Latin for dice-box, probably in allusion to the shape of the 

 flowers.] 



A genus with showy and singular looking flowers. The 

 plants all require a deep loamy soil, and are readily in- 

 creased by offsets or by seeds. They grow readily in the 

 shade of trees, and do not require to be taken up oftener 

 than once in three years. 



Fritillaria imperialist Crown Imperial. A native of 

 Persia. There are many varieties ; all handsome, varying 

 in color ; viz. : bright yellow, scarlet, orange-scarlet, 

 double red, double yellow, gold-striped-leaved, silver-strip- 

 ed-leaved, etc. This species is less esteemed than its 

 beauty merits, on account of its strong, and, to some, its 

 disagreeable scent. It flowers in April ; the bulb throws 

 up a strong, vigorous stem, three or four feet high, pro- 

 ducing near the top a crown of beautiful, drooping, bell- 

 shaped flowers, making a very conspicuous object at a 

 season when but few flowers grace the garden. Above 

 the crown of flowers the stem terminates in a tuft of its 

 glossy green foliage. The nectaries are very curious ; each 

 cell, six in number, contains a large drop, which looks like 

 a brilliant pearl. When the flower decays, the seed-vessels 

 take a position the reverse of that of the flower, and stand 



