OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS. 109 



and handsome foliage, the living plant makes a better impres- 

 sion. I said it was rare, but this is less in the sense of scarcity 

 than because it is little known and seldom seen ; it is also quite 

 distinct from any other plant, and the only species of the 

 genus. 



Its milk-white flowers, which, though very simple, are richly 

 effective, are produced on tall, nude stems, 18in. high, round, 

 wiry, and nearly amber-coloured. They are arranged in a dense 

 spike, 6in. to 8in. long. ; the corolla is ^in. across, and composed 

 of five petals ; the calyx has a short tube and five sepals ; the 

 leaves are heart-shaped, nearly round, evenly toothed, and some- 

 times glandular; of leathery substance, and somewhat stiff, 

 smooth, shining, and richly veined or nerved. The leaves of 

 various ages differ in colour ; the old ones are dark green, con- 

 spicuously reticulated ; the new, but perfectly-developed ones, are 

 pale green, with a ray of yellowish-green next the edges ; the 

 growing ones are nearly red, and all the serrated edges are 

 hemmed with a nearly scarlet line, always brightest at the points 

 of the teeth. This finely-tinted foliage is elegantly disposed by 

 means of the stalks, which bend in various ways ; they vary in 

 length from 4in. to 8in., and are all radical ; they are round, 

 wiry, and once grooved. The bloom lasts for several weeks in 

 good form, and the foliage is always beautiful, more especially in 

 the autumn, when it glows like polished mahogany. Such a 

 plant can hardly fail to please when well grown, but it must be 

 so developed. 



This lovely plant certainly requires a little special treatment, 

 but that is easy and simple ; in fact, it scarcely can be called 

 special. It may be put in a few words damp, but not sour 

 vegetable soil, and very slight shade. My specimen, from 

 which the drawing was taken, is growing in a little dip at the 

 base of a small rockery, below the level of the walk, which acts as 

 a watershed ; the soil is nearly all leaf mould a small portion 

 of loam, and I ought to add that there is a moderate quantity of 

 small charcoal incorporated with it, which will doubtless assist 

 in keeping the soil sweet. There cannot, therefore, be much 

 difficulty in setting up these conditions ; the charcoal may not 

 be necessary, but an annual top-dressing with it will meet the 

 case of such plants as grow in low damp situations. The propa- 

 gation of this species is very easy in the case of well-grown 

 clumps, which, when dug up in the autumn and thoroughly 

 shaken, will come asunder into many small and well-rooted 

 crowns ; these only require to be replanted separately, under 

 similar conditions to those by which they were produced. No 

 attempt should be made to divide other than perfectly healthy 

 clumps. 



Flowering period, July and August. 



