52 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



gated with light yellow, and spotted with black. No flower 

 can exceed it in beauty ; but nature does not lavish all her 

 sweets upon one flower ; in this there is no scent. The 

 flowers are large, and produced in July and August. It is 

 properly a green-house plant, but is easily cultivated in the 

 open air. The bulbs should be planted about the middle of 

 May, about two inches deep, in any rich garden-soil, and 

 require no particular care. The bulbs and offsets should 

 be taken up in October, and dried ; but be particular not to 

 expose them to frost while drying, or at any other time, as that 

 would destroy them. They may be kept in dry sand, saw- 

 dust, or moss, until the time of planting in the spring. The 

 mice are very fond of the roots, and, if they find them, but few, 

 if any, will be left to plant. 



FRITILLARIA. 



Fritillary. 



The Crown Imperial, or Fritillaria imperialis, is supposed 

 to be a native of Persia. There are many varieties ; all hand- 

 some, varying in color; viz., bright yellow, scarlet, orange 

 scarlet, double red, double yellow, gold-striped-leaved, silver- 

 striped-leaved, &c. This species is less esteemed that its 

 beauty merits, on account of its strong, and, to some, its disa- 

 greeable scent. It flowers in April ; the bulb throws up a 

 strong, vigorous stem, three or four feet high, producing near the 

 top a crown of beautiful, drooping, bell-shaped flowers, making 

 a very conspicuous object at a season when but few flowers 

 grace the garden. Above the crown of flowers the stem ter- 

 minates in a tuft of its glossy green foliage. The nectaries are 

 very curious ; each cell, six in number, contains a large drop, 

 which looks like a brilliant pearl. When the flower decays, 

 the seed-vessels take the reverse of the flower, and stand erect. 

 The bulbs are large and fleshy, somewhat solid : they do not 



