72 Remarks on Clycamen Europmmn. 



the original form. The flowers are of the purest white, and 

 begin to appear before the leaves, about the middle of Sep- 

 tember, continuing to blossom for more than a month. The 

 number depends on the strength and size of the tuber. As 

 the flowers fade, the foliage expands rapidly, and, after all 

 the leaves are developed, which takes some weeks, they con- 

 tinue until June, when, suddenly drying away, nothing more 

 of a vital character is perceptible until the reappearance of the 

 blossoms. The success of a good bloom, I have ascertained, 

 depends on keeping the plant in a fresh state all the year 

 round. A specimen of both sorts, viz., the purple flower and 

 the white, was first treated with entire desiccation through 

 the summer ; the consequence was, the total loss of the first 

 mentioned, and the weakening of the second to such a degree 

 as to prevent its flowering on the succeeding autumn, as also 

 the stinting of its foliage. By pursuing a more liberal course, 

 I have had the pleasure of enjoying an abundance of exqui- 

 site blossoms, for the two past years, and a rich supply of 

 leaves. I suspect that our winters would prove too severe, 

 should it be treated as a border flower, and indeed, as such, 

 its merits would be overlooked. It is fairly entitled to pot 

 culture, and makes a pretty ornament for the parlor or green- 

 house. Like the rest of the genus, this species does not need 

 much pot room, nor frequent shiftings. My little plant has 

 grown in the same pot and soil for these three years, and I 

 find no deficiency to be remedied. In the latter part of May, 

 I sink the pot in some shady border, where it remains until I 

 perceive the flower-stalks rising, when, taking it into the 

 house, it constitutes a much admired floral gem. 



Several other species are known to florists, and all, I sus- 

 pect, better known than this. Cyclamen coum, from the 

 south of Europe, has small round leaves and pretty and rather 

 small red flowers, of which the shape of the petals are of a 

 rounded outline. C. hedcra^folium is a native of Austria 

 according to Loudon, who speaks of it as "very scarce, and 

 agreeably fragrant." — (^E)icyc. Plants^ p. 129.) C. vernum 

 blossoms in March, and is a spring flowerer, as its name de- 

 notes. These are pronounced as quite hardy : by this, I pre- 

 sume, is meant, that they need the protection of a frame, or 

 may endure the open cultivation of England. C. persicum is 



