BLANDFORDIA 



THE BULB BOOK 



BOBARTIA 



as species by some, the best being 

 Kp/endens, with larger and brighter 

 coloured flowers than the type; 

 elegans, with large crimson flowers 

 edged with yellow ; and aurea, a 

 pure golden-yellow flowered form. 

 Figures to be found in Bot. Mag. t. 

 5809 ; Rot. Reg. t. 924 ; Fl. d. Serr. 

 6585; Gard. 1883, t. 411. 



B. grandiflora (B. Cunninghami). 

 Another fine plant 2 to 3 ft. high, 

 with sheathing, distichous leaves 

 about a foot long and a j in. broad, 

 and ending in a needle-like point. 

 The flower-stem is topped with a 

 cluster of about half a dozen drooping 

 flowers, each about 2 ins. long, and 

 of a glowing red and yellow colour. 

 (Bot. Mag. t. 5734 ; Bot. Reg. t. 924.) 



B. marginata. This is a Tasmanian 

 species about 2 ft. high, with rough- 

 edged leaves, and rich dark red 

 flowers about 1| ins. long, margined 

 with yellow, and borne on a deep 



FIG. "iO.niandfordia princ 



purple-coloured stalk. The variety 

 intermedia has yellow flowers. 



B. nobilis. A noble species about 



107 



2 ft. high, with grassy leaves, and 

 drooping clusters of orange or 

 brownish-red and yellow flowers, each 

 about li ins. long (Bot. Mag. t. 2003). 



B. princeps. This is a fine species, 

 or, as it has been called, a variety of 

 flammea. It has longer and larger 

 flowers, 2j to 3 ins. long, of a beautiful 

 orange-red passing into soft golden- 

 yellow, and borne on stalks about a 

 foot high. (Bot. Mag. t. 6209.) 



The Blandfordias, or "Australian 

 Christmas Bells 1 ' as they might be 

 called popularly, deserve greater 

 attention than they receive at present. 

 They are easy to grow, and are unique 

 as ornamental flowering plants during 

 the summer. There is no necessity 

 to grow them in pots. They would 

 do well planted out in a peaty border 

 in a cool greenhouse. All the species 

 mentioned above, except B. mar- 

 ginata, are natives of New South 

 Wales. 



BLOOMBRIA (after H. G. Bloomer, 

 Curator of the Academy of Nat. 

 Science, California, 1863). Nat. Ord. 

 Liliaceae. A small genus closely 

 related to Brodisea, Bessera, and 

 Nothoscordum, having fibrous-coated 

 corms, long linear radical leaves, and 

 simple scapes ending in an umbel of 

 many rotate flowers, with six distinct 

 spreading segments. Stamens six, 

 hypogynous, or very slightly adhering 

 to the base of the segments. 



B. aurea (Allium croceum ; Nothos- 

 cordum aureum). A handsome Cali- 

 fornian plant, with dense umbels of 

 bright yellow flowers on stems about 

 1 ft. high. B. Cleveland! is another 

 yellow- flowered species, but smaller. 

 Both kinds flourish in rich sandy 

 loam, and should be placed in warm, 

 sunny corners in the rock-garden or 

 border. Increased by offsets. 



BOBARTIA (after Jacob Bobart, 

 a professor of botany at Oxford in 



