BUDDLEA. 



72 



BULBS. 



Bud'dlea (nat. ord. Scropnularia'cea). 



Deciduous greenhouse shrubs, natives of 

 India and South America. They are not 

 quite hardy enough to endure very severe 

 winters with us out of doors ; but in green- 

 houses they flower profusely. A loamy 

 soil, mixed with peat, suits them best. 



There is, however, one hardy variety, 

 Buddlea globosa, remarkable for its pretty 

 ball-shaped orange blossoms and lanceolate 

 leaves, pale green above and whitish 

 below. This herbaceous shrub attains the 

 height of 15 feet, and only requires such 

 protection as is afforded by a dry sheltered 

 situation. It may be propagated by cut- 

 tings taken from well -ripened wood, in 

 September, placed in good soil under a 

 hand-light, or from seeds, if they ripen on 

 the parent plant. 



Bugloss (not. ord. Boragina'cese). 



The Bugloss (Anchusa) is a fine showy 

 plant, mostly with large blue flowers. It 

 may be propagated by slips, and by divi- 



ding the roots into as many plants as there 

 are heads, when it has done flowering, as 

 well as by seed saved in the autumn, and 

 sown on a warm border in the spring. 



Bulbs, Form and Classification 

 of. 



The management of some special classes 



of bulbs, such as the crocus, the gladiolus, 

 the hyacinth, &c., are indicated under the 

 names they respectively bear. At present 

 we have only to consider the culture of 

 bulbs generally, some of which may be 

 regarded as herbaceous plants, and which 

 may one and all be classified as such, 

 when we remember that plants of this 

 kind are those in which a new stem is pro- 

 duced, year after year, from a perennial 

 root, and that the term is applicable to 

 any border perennial whose habit is not 

 shrubby. Strictly speaking, the term 

 " bulb " is applicable only to roots such as 

 the hyacinth, which grows in successive 

 coats superimposed one on and over the 

 other, and the lily, which is formed of 

 scales growing one over the other, as tiles 

 are placed on the roof of a house. From 

 this disposition of the coats in one case, 

 and the scales in the other, of which true 

 bulbs are formed ; bulbs following the 

 formation of the hyacinth are said to be 

 tunicated bulbs, and those following the 

 formation of the lily are said to be imbri- 

 cated. From this it is evident that snow- 

 drops, daffodils, &c., which are similar in 

 construction to the hyacinth, and all that 

 possess the scale-like formation of the lily, 

 are genuine bulbs. 



But what of the crocus, the gladiolus, 

 the cyclamen, and other fleshy roots of 

 bulbous forms which have not the construc- 

 tion of either of the classes just described 

 are they not bulbs? No, not in the 

 strictest sense of the word ; but having the 

 form of bulbs they are commonly accepted 

 as being bulbs, and are included in the list 

 of roots called *' Dutch Bulbs," sent over 

 every autumn from growers in Holland to 

 supply the English market. If the root, 

 say, of a crocus, be divided in any way, 

 whether from top to bottom, or trans- 

 versely from side to side, it will be found 

 that it is a fleshy root without any division 

 whatever in the interior, like the hyacinth, 



