72 HARDY PERENNIALS AND 



are attached to the crown by a narrow and very thin portion of 

 the root bark, in such a way as to suggest that the lower parts 

 might as well be cut off as useless but, let me say, do not cut 

 it. If it is intended to replant the specimen, let it go back 

 to " Mother Earth " with all its parts, deformed as some may 

 seem to us ; otherwise Corydalis nobilis will be anything but a 

 noble plant at the flowering season ; it may not die, but it will 

 probably make for itself another " hollowe roote " before it pro- 

 duces any flowers, The habit and form of this plant are perfect 

 (see Fig. 29), and there are other points of excellence about it 

 which cannot be shown by an engraving, in the way of the 

 arrangements of colours and shades. Seldom does the little 

 plant, so full of character, exceed a height of Sin. The speci- 

 men from which the drawing was made was 7in., and grown 

 fully exposed in a pot plunged in sand. Another plant, grown 

 on rockwork, " high and dry," is about the same size, but it 

 looks better fed. Probably the long roots are short of depth in 

 pots, and the amount of decay may soon poison the handful of 

 mould contained therein. Be that as it may, the specimens 

 grown in pots have a hungry appearance compared with those 

 less confined at the roots. 



The flowers are a pleasing mixture of white, yellow, brown, 

 and green. The four petals are of such a shape and so ar- 

 ranged as to form a small snapdragon-like flower. These are 

 densely produced in a terminal cluster in pyramid form on the 

 stout and richly-f oliaged stem ; dense as is the head of flowers, 

 every floret is alternated with a richly-cut leaf, both diminishing 

 in size as they near the top. The older flowers become yellow, 

 with two petals tipped with brown, the younger ones have more 

 white and green, and the youngest are a rich blend of 

 white and green ; the head or truss is therefore very beautiful 

 in both form and colour, and withal exquisitely scented, like 

 peach blossom and lilac. The leaves are stalked bipinnate ; leaf- 

 lets three-parted, cut, and glaucous ; there are few plants with 

 more handsome foliage, and its beauty is further enhanced by 

 the gracefully bending habit of the whole compound leaf. The 

 flowers are too stiff for cutting, and otherwise their fine forms, 

 colours, and perfume cannot well be enjoyed unless the plants 

 are grown either in pots or at suitable elevations on rockwork, 

 the latter being the more preferable way. The long blooming 

 period of this plant adds not a little to its value, lasting, as it 

 does, quite a month, the weather having little or no effect on 

 the flowers. 



Any kind of sweet garden soil seems to do for it, and its pro- 

 pagation is carried out by careful root division. 



Flowering period, April to June. 



