8 THE BOOK OF BULBS 



among them some pleasing and useful flowers, and a 

 few remarks upon some of those most easily obtainable 

 may be of service. It may be premised that the Alliums 

 are most suitable for naturalising in grass or in wild 

 gardens, as many of them are so prolific that they are 

 apt to become troublesome in the border. They usually 

 seed very freely and some produce offsets in great 

 numbers, while others, again, form little bulbils on 

 their heads which eventually form separate individuals. 

 Almost all are of easy cultivation, although some of the 

 Central Asian and Californian species need a little pro- 

 tection in winter. 



A. acuminatum is a pretty dwarf species with deep 

 rose flowers, and other pretty dwarf forms or species 

 of similar or deeper colour are Bidwilliae, Breweri, 

 falcifolium, Fetisowii, macnabianum, narcissiflorum, 

 ostrowskianum, and pedemontanum. A few blue species 

 exist and are generally very pretty, though sometimes 

 tender ; of these, cseruleum, cyaneum, kansuense, and 

 violaceum may be mentioned. A great many have 

 white flowers and it is among these that we find the 

 most valued of the species. The greatest favourite is 

 neapolitanum, so much used for forcing, and which is 

 grown in pots under the same treatment as other bulbous 

 plants. Other pretty white species are triquetrum, sub- 

 villosum, Erdelii, and falciforme. None of the yellow 

 species are equal to the old A. Moly, a bright June flower, 

 but others of worth in their own way are flavum, and 

 the straw-coloured stramineum. Good tall species, 

 some having ornamental foliage, are karataviense, 

 giganteum, sphaerocephalum, nigrum, Suworowi, and 

 nobile. The great drawback of the Alliums is their 

 odour, which is, however, not always perceptible except 

 when the flowers are cut. 



