614 



GL A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL, 



G I, A 



form ; stigmas three, rolled back, and spreading, blunt, 

 villose. Pericarp : capsule ovate, three-cornered, blunt, 

 three-celled, three-valved. Seeds : very many, smooth. 

 Gsertner observes, that Antholyza may be very well placed 

 in this genus. ESSENTIAL CHARACTKR. Corolla: six- 

 parted, irregular, unequal. Stig7tias : three. The spe- 

 cies are, 



1. Gladiolus Communis; Common Corn Flag. Leaves 

 sword-shaped; flowers distant; root round, compressed, 

 yellowish, covered with a brown furrowed skin ; hence spring 

 two sword-shaped leaves, embracing each other at the base ; 

 and between them rises the flower-stalk, growing nearly two 

 feet high, having one or two narrow leaves embracing it like 

 a sheath, and terminated by five or six purple flowers, one 

 above another at some distance, ranged on the same side of 

 the stalk. Mr. Miller makes three species of this. 1. That 

 above described, with the flowers disposed on one side of 

 the stalk, varying with white and flesh-coloured flowers, 

 which Gerarde calls the Italian Corn-flag: 2. the Italian, or 

 Utrinque Floridus of Caspar Bauhin, with flowers on each 

 side the stalk, of which, he says, there is also a variety with 

 white flowers, called by Gerarde and Parkinson, the French 

 Corn-flag: 3. the Great Corn-flag of Byzantium, which has 

 larger roots, but of the same form ; the leaves are also much 

 broader and larger, with deeper channels. The flower-stalks 

 rise higher ; the flowers are much larger, of a deeper red 

 colour, and the sheaths are longer. It makes a fine appear- 

 ance when in flower, and is worthy of a place in every good 

 garden, especially as the roots do not increase so rapidly as to 

 become troublesome. Parkinson, besides the French, Italian, 

 and Byzantine Corn-flags, has three varieties, the blush, 

 white, and small purple. The Common Corn-flag requires no 

 care; for when it is once planted, it will multiply fast enough. 

 The Byzantine Corn-flag has latterly supplanted it. This is 

 propagated by offsets, which are sent off from the roots, in 

 the same manner as Tulips. The roots may be taken out of 

 the ground at the end of July, when their stalks decay, and 

 may be kept out of the ground till the end of September, or 

 the beginning of October, at which time they should be 

 planted in the borders of the flower-garden, where they will 

 thrive in any situation, and being intermixed with other flow- 

 ers of the same growth, add much to the variety. 



2. Gladiolus Imbricatus ; Netted Corn-flag. Leaves sword- 

 sliaped ; flowers imbricate, small, all directed one way, of a 

 purple or crimson colour. Native of Russia. 



3. Gladiolus Alatus ; Winged Corn-flag. Leaves sword- 

 shaped; the side petals very broad; stem a span high, thick- 

 ish, flexuose between the flowers ; upper lip of the corollas 

 sickle-shaped, narrow; side petals or wings of the same 

 length, rhomb-shaped, very broad ; lower lip three-parted; 

 the leaflets ovate and equal. Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. This, and all the other Cape sorts, may be increased 

 by offsets, which should be planted in a warm border of kit- 

 chen-garden earth; and in winter they should be covered with 

 glasses or mats, to guard them from the frost. A slight shel- 

 ter has preserved those in pots under a common frame, and 

 even some that were planted in the full ground, when the frost 

 has not been severe. But it has always been remarked, that 

 those plants, which were hardily treated, grew much stronger 

 than those which were placed in a moderate degree of warmth ; 

 so that where it is convenient to cover a warm border with 

 glasses in the winter, if these roots be planted under them in 

 the full ground, and only protected from frost, there will be a 

 greater probability of their flowering, than tinder any other 

 mode of culture. They may also be propagated by seeds, 

 which are often perfected in England : the seeds should be 



sown at the end of August, in pots filled with light earth, and 

 placed in a shady situation till the middle of September; the 

 pots should then be placed so as to enjoy the sun during the 

 greater part of the day, until October, when they must be 

 removed under a hot-bed frame, where they may be pro- 

 tected from frost and great rains, but enjoy the free air in 

 mild weather. In the spring, the young- plants will appear, 

 and will require a litlle water once in eight or ten days; but 

 it should be very sparingly given. In May, when the danger 

 of frost is past, the pots should be removed to a sheltered 

 situation, where they may have the morning sun till noon, 

 and, if the season prove dry, be now and then refreshed with 

 water. Towards ihe latter end of June, the leaves of these 

 plants will decay; the roots should then be taken up, and 

 may be mixed with sand, and kept in a dry room till the end 

 of August, when they should be planted again ; and, as the 

 roots are small, four or five may be set in each halfpenny pot 

 filled with light earth, and placed where they may have only 

 the forenoon sun till the middle of September, when they 

 should have a warmer situation, and in October should be 

 placed under a hot-bed frame as before, and treated in the same 

 way during the winter. In the spring, they must be placed in 

 the open air till their leaves decay, when they may be again 

 taken out of the ground, and treated in the same manner as 

 before; but as the roots will have grown to a larger size, when 

 they are planted again, they should each have a separate 

 halfpenny pot, because they will not now be large enough to 

 flower, and may be treated as the old roots. 



4. Gladiolus Tubiflorus ; Long-tubed Corn Flag. Leaves 

 linear-laDCeolate, villose, somewhat plaited, longer than the 

 scape; tube very long; spathes hirsute; stem round, villose, 

 a finger's length; flowers sessile, mostly on one side; bractes 

 three at the base of each germen, hirsute, acuminate ; the 

 outer an inch and a half long, the inner half that length; 

 stigmas somewhat wedge-shaped, villose above. It flowers 

 in June. Native of the Cape. See the preceding species. 



5. Gladiolus Plicatus; Hairy Corn Flag. Leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, villose, plaited ; tube longer than the spathes ; 

 root round, compressed, about the size of the small Spring 

 Crocus ; the skin red ; from this arise five or six sword- 

 shaped hairy leaves, from two to four inches long, and one- 

 third of an inch broad, dark green, sitting close at the base, 

 but spreading upwards like the sticks of a fan ; between these 

 rises the flower-stalk, six or eight inches in length, naked to 

 the top, terminated by a spike of deep blue flowers ; corolla 

 divided to the base into six obtuse parts, equal in size and 

 division. It flowers in May, and the seeds ripen in July; 

 soon after which, the stalk and leaves decay to the root. 

 Native of the Cape. See the third species. 



6. Gladiolus Strictus; Upright Corn Flag. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, villose, plaited; tube equal to the spathe. This 

 varies with a blue corolla; the tube and the base of the seg- 

 ments are very dark purple; and with a pale purple corolla, 

 the tube blue. It flowers in June ; and is a native of the Cape. 

 See the third species. 



7. Gladiolus Tristis; Square-stalked Corn Flag. Leaves 

 linear-cross-shaped; corollas bell-shaped. From the root 

 come out two or three narrow leaves, a foot and a half long, 

 having a longitudinal furrow in the middle, and ending in 

 acute points ; they are of a deep green, and stand erect. 

 Between these arises a slender taper stalk, about the same 

 length as the leaves, having one or two short acute-pointed 

 leaves on the lower part, embracing the sialk at their base ; 

 flowers alternate, distant ; tube of the corolla curved down- 

 wards, not so long as in the other sorts. It flowers at ths 

 end of May, and the seeds ripen about six weeks after. 



