92 Commercial Gardening 



seeds and by division. New plants may also be obtained from leaf 

 cuttings inserted in leaf mould or sandy peat in a close frame. 



Fig. 24Q.Ramondiapyrenaica 



Ranunculus. Of the many species known, only two or three are culti- 

 vated occasionally for market. The double-flowered variety of R. aconiti- 

 folius, with pure snow-white flowers popularly known as "White Bachelors' 

 Buttons ", " Fair Maids of France ", and " Fair Maids of Kent ", is one; and 

 the double-flowered variety of the Common Buttercup, R. acris, is the 

 other. The latter has beautiful golden-yellow flowers. Both kinds grow 

 12-24 in. high, and will flourish in any damp garden soil. They are easily 

 increased by division in autumn, and the flowers sometimes sell well. 

 There is also a double-flowered variety of R. bulbosus. 



The Asiatic, Turkey, and Persian Ranunculuses (varieties of R. asiaticus) 

 have tuberous fanged roots, and produce fine double flowers of various 

 shades of orange, yellow, rose, pink, purple, and intermediate shades. 

 Although very popular in private and public gardens, they are not gene- 

 rally grown for market in the British Isles, probably owing to the fact 

 that the blooms are imported in thousands early in the year when they 

 cannot be had in the United Kingdom, and later on the competition of 

 other home-grown produce would render the cost of cultivation, &c., 

 unremunerative. 



Nurserymen do a limited trade in certain species of Ranunculus for 

 borders and rock gardens, among the most important being alpestris, 

 3-6 in., white; amplexicaulis, 3-12 in., white; cortuscefolius, 3-5 ft., yellow; 

 Lyalli, 2-4 ft., white; gramineus, 6-12 in., yellow; and montanus, 6-8 in., 

 yellow. 



Rehmannia angulata (elata). A distinct-looking Chinese perennial, 

 3-6 ft. high, with somewhat triangular coarsely toothed leaves, and large 

 bright rose-red Foxglove-like flowers drooping from an erect spike, and 

 speckled or blotched with purple, and tinted with yellow in the throat. 



