CYRTOSPERMA 



THE BULB BOOK 



DAHLIA 



red scentless flowers H to 2 ins. long, 

 about October and November. (Bot. 

 Reg. t. 167.) 



C. Tuckl. This grows wild with 

 C. Macowani in S. Africa at an 

 altitude of 5000 ft. It has ovoid 

 bulbs 1| ins. through, and marrow 

 leaves 1 to l ft. long. The bright 



Fio. 115. Cyrtanthus Tucki. (J.) 



orange- scarlet flowers, ten to twelve 

 in an umbel, droop from the summit 

 of the fleshy blue-green scape, which 

 is 12 to 18 ins. high, during July and 

 August. (Gard. Chron. 1892, xii. 

 155, fig. 28.) 



O. uniflorus (Amaryllis clavata ; A. 

 humilis ; Gastronema clavatum ). 

 This species has roundish bulbs about 

 1 in. in diameter, one to two linear 

 leaves about 6 ins. long, and a slender 

 scape 6 to 9 ins. high, bearing one to 

 three more or less erect, funnel- 

 shaped, white flowers 1| to 2 ins. 

 long, with green or reddish-brown 

 stripes (Bot. Beg. t. 168 ; Bot. Mag. 

 t. 2291). 



CYRTOSPERMA (kyrtos, curved ; 

 Nat. Ord. Aroideae. 



188 



A genus containing about twenty 

 species of tuberous-rooted herbs from 

 the Tropics of Asia, Africa, and 

 America. The leaves are more or 

 less arrow-shaped, with long stalks 

 sheathing at the base. The spathes 

 are ovate lance-shaped or oblong, 

 enclosing a shorter cylindrical or 

 globose spadix containing the flowers. 



O. ferox. A remarkable-looking 

 species from Borneo, having arrow- 

 shaped leaves with prickly stalks, 

 and greenish-white spathes, also borne 

 on prickly stalks (111. Hort. xxxix. 

 t. 153). 



C. Johnson! (Alocasia Johnstoni). 

 A native of the Solomon Islands, 

 having semi - erect, arrow - shaped 

 peltate leaves, with terminal lobes 

 about a foot long, the two basal 

 ones somewhat longer ; the entire 

 blade being olive green, elegantly 

 marked with deep pink veins. The 

 stalks are furnished with whorls of 

 stiffish prickles, and the deep green 

 mottled stems are banded with pink. 



The Cyrtospermas require the same 

 cultural treatment as the Alocasias 

 which see. 



DAHLIA (named after Andrt Dahl, 

 a Swedish botanist, and student of 

 Linnaeus). Nat. Ord. Compositae. 

 This genus contains about a dozen 

 species of rather coarse-growing herb- 

 aceous plants, having spindle-shaped 

 tuberous roots, thick hollow stems, 

 opposite leaves divided once, twice, 

 or thrice, and large flower - heads 

 borne on long stalks at the ends of 

 the shoots and from the axils of the 

 leaves. The natural species are all 

 natives of Mexico, and are generally 

 regarded as being only half-hardy in 

 the British Islands. 



The first Dahlia in Europe appar- 

 ently D. variabilis seems to have 

 been introduced to Spain, whence it 

 found its way into England in 1789 



