IXIOLIRION 



THE BULB BOOK 



K^MPFEEIA 



I. paniculata (/. longijtora ; Tri- 

 tonia longifiora). Creamy - white, 

 often tinted with pink and with a 

 blackish centre (Sot. Mag. tt. 256, 

 1502; Red. Lil. t. 34). 



I patens (/. filiformis). Pale pink, 

 bell-shaped (Bot. Mag. t. 522 ; Red. 

 Lil. tt. 30, 140). 



I. polystachya (/. erecta). White 

 (Bot. Mag. t. 623). 



I. speciosa (/. crateroides). Deep 

 red or crimson ; one of the best (Bot. 

 Mag. t. 594). 



I. virldiflora. Soft sea-green, with 

 a blackish shining blotch in the 

 centre; very attractive and curious 

 (Bot. Mag. tt. 549, 579 ; Red. Lil. t. 

 476). 



IXIOLIRION (from ixia, and leirion, 

 a lily ; i.e., an Ixia-like Lily). Nat. 

 Ord. Amaryllideae. A small genus of 

 bulbous plants with linear leaves and 

 umbels of funnel-shaped flowers on 

 top of a slender erect stem. Peri- 

 anth segments six, more or less erect, 

 oblanceolate, acute. 



The two species here mentioned 

 are the only ones in the genus. They 

 should be grown in warm, sunny, and 

 sheltered positions in the open air in 

 rich and well-drained sandy soil. 

 When the bulbs are dormant from 

 autumn onwards, they should be kept 

 dry, and if left in the open border, 

 the winter rains should be warded off 

 with a sloping covering of straw or 

 litter, or with an old light. Propaga- 

 tion is effected by offsets in spring ; 

 and also by sowing any ripened seeds 

 in gentle warmth at the same period. 



I. Kolpakowskianum. This grows 

 wild in Turkestan, at an elevation of 

 3000 to 6000 ft. It has tufts of grass- 

 like leaves, and produces its whitish 

 or bluish flowers about April and 

 May (Garten/I, t. 953). 



I. montanum. A beautiful species 

 from W. Asia, having long-necked 



ovoid bulbs about 1 in. through, and 

 grassy leaves. The bright lilac 

 flowers in graceful umbels appear in 

 early summer (June), and have the 

 segments distinctly three to five 

 ribbed. (Bot. Reg. 1844, t. 66.) 



Fio. 221. Ixiolirion tataricu 



The variety tataricum or Lede- 

 bouri has narrower leaves and smaller 

 flowers ; macranthum has much 

 larger flowers than the type, deep 

 blue shaded with purple ; and brachy- 

 antherum (or Pallasi) has beautiful 

 violet-blue flowers tinged with rose, 

 and with a darker coloured band down 

 the centre of each segment. 



321 



IIA (after Kaempfer, a 

 German naturalist). Nat. Ord. Scita- 

 mineae. A genus containing about 

 twenty species of hothouse plants 

 closely related to Roscoea, Hedy- 

 chium, and Curcuma. They have 

 thickened, tuberous-like root-stocks, 

 and leafy spikes of flowers. The 



