364 BKECK'S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 







TRADESCANTIA. SPIDER-WORT. 



[Named in memory of John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I.] 



Tradcscantia Virginica, Spider- wort. With its va- 

 rieties are interesting border-flowers, on account of the 

 continual succession of fine blue or white flowers, which 

 are produced every morning, from May to September. It 

 lias long, grass-like foliage ; flowers on stems one and one- 

 half foot high, in umbel-like clusters. There is also a va- 

 riety with double flowers, of a reddish-purple. None of 

 them are desirable for bouquets, as the flowers close, and 

 never open in water ; hardy perennials ; propagated by 

 dividing the roots, which multiply very rapidly. 



TRILLIUM. 



[Name from trilix, triple, as it has all its parts in threes three styles ; three 

 petals ; three sepals (leaves of the calyx) ; and three leaves on the stem.] 



Trillium pictum. This is a very handsome species of 

 this curious genus ; indigenous, but rarely found. I shall 

 not forget the pleasurable surprise I experienced some 

 thirty years since, as I came unexpectedly upon a bed of 

 it in the woods of Lancaster, Mass., the first time I had 

 seen the plant. The patch in full bloom, five or six feet in 

 diameter, was indeed beautiful. It was situated in a dark, 

 shady part of the woods, in a rather peaty soil. This 

 species is exclusively a North American plant. The flow- 

 ers are two inches in diameter, pure white ; the petals 

 pencilled at the base with rich crimson-purple. The fruit 

 is also very ornamental, being a large scarlet berry. 



T. S^SSlle. Sessile-flowered. Is found in Pennsylvania 

 and southward ; it is a dark-chocolate color, the leaves 

 beautifully variegated with dark and light-green. 



T. grandiflorum, is probably the handsomest of the 

 species. The petals are one and one-half to two inches 



