22 THE BOOK OF BULBS 



CAMASSIAS 



The Camassias, or Quamashes, are handsome plants 

 with long leaves and tall spikes of flowers of much 

 beauty, although rather fugacious. The blooms are 

 generally blue, but there is a white variety of the pretty 

 C. esculenta and a creamy-white one called Leichtlinii. 

 Fraseri is very pretty, and Cusickii and Engelmanni are 

 also worth growing. They like a rather moist, peaty 

 soil and a little shade when they bloom in May or June. 



COLCHICUMS 



Colchicums or Meadow Saffrons are of much value in 

 the garden in autumn, and in large clumps or masses 

 produce a splendid effect. The few spring species are 

 of less merit and are only desirable for those who like 

 collections of uncommon flowers. They like a rather 

 rich soil, and a sunny position. As the leaves appear in 

 spring, the Colchicums should be grown through grass 

 or other herbage where the flowers can have some 

 support. The best time for planting is immediately 

 after the leaves become yellow. The tops of the corms 

 or bulbs should be about three inches below the surface. 

 Colchicums are very poisonous and must not be planted 

 where there can be any danger of their being eaten for 

 edible tubers. The finest in cultivation are Bornmulleri, 

 Sibthorpii, and speciosum, in several forms, including 

 maximum, rubrum, and the new white album. Byzan- 

 tinum is a good species, and some of the double forms, 

 ascribed to autumnale, are possibly varieties of this. 

 These double varieties are very useful, the best being 

 album fl. pi., roseum fl. pi., and striatum fl. pi. The 

 ordinary autumnale, of which there are several colours 

 from white to purple, is rather weak in the flower-tubes 

 and is much injured by bad weather. Other good 



