EVERLASTING FLOWERS 191 



white to rosy pink, and sometimes almost purple. 

 They are borne in profusion, and their attrac- 

 tiveness is often enhanced by their fragrance. 



The crinums originally came from the tropics, 

 being indigenous to various parts of South 

 America and the southern United States. Sev- 

 eral species are hardy in California. In some 

 cases these will withstand freezing, so that even 

 if the leaves are destroyed by the frost the new 

 growth will put forth in the spring, and they 

 will bloom as abundantly as if they had been 

 carefully housed over winter. 



Like most other bulbous plants they thrive 

 best in sandy soil. 



Some of the crinums are evergreen under 

 ordinary temperature; others are deciduous like 

 most of their relatives of the amaryllis tribe. 



The chief objection to the crinums for house 

 culture is the enormous size of the bulb, and the 

 tendency to produce a superabundance of 

 foliage out of proportion to the number of 

 flowers ; although this criticism does not apply to 

 all of them. 



Fifteen years ago I had probably twenty 

 species of crinums, most of them having been 

 brought from the tropics. My object was to 

 combine the good qualities of the tropical and 

 subtropical species with those of the hardy ones. 



