ALSTRCEMERIA 



ALTAMIRANOA 



267 



not been tried. For outdoor planting, alstremerias are 

 at their best in a partly shaded position, and at 

 all times during their growth the roots must have an 

 abundance of water. In fact, there is little use in 

 attempting their cultivation out-of-doors when these 

 conditions cannot be given. In colder climates, the al- 

 stremerias can be grown very successfully by planting 

 out in spring, and, as soon as they die down, lift, and 

 keep over winter in a place from which frost is excluded. 

 An annual lifting, or, when grown in pots, an annual 

 shaking-out, should be given, because they increase to 

 such an extent that the younger and smaller crowns are 

 apt to take the nourishment from the large flowering 

 crowns. The largest ones ought to be separated from 

 the smaller ones, and either grown in pots or planted 

 outside when the proper time arrives. In this way the 

 genus will become much more popu- 

 lar than it now is. either for cutting 

 or for the decoration of the border. 

 The best soil is largely composed 

 of vegetable humus; when this is 

 not to be had old well -decayed 

 cow- or stable-manure should be 

 incorporated with the soil. When 

 they are planted outside, the tubers 

 should be put deep in the ground, 

 and the soil should be well worked 

 for at least 15 inches. The tubers are slightly 

 egg-shaped, attached to a common stem; the 

 roots are from the ends of the tubers, and 

 also from near the growing points of the 

 crowns. For greenhouse work one of the 

 best is A. Pelegrina var. alba. The roots may 

 be potted up in autumn in large pots, and 

 treated as other tender late winter tuberous 

 or bulbous plants are treated. See Bulbs. 

 Some of the Van Houtte hybrids are extremely 

 pretty, but, with the others, they are rather 

 unsuitable for pot culture, owing to the 

 peculiar formation of the roots. The species 

 are easily raised from seeds, which should be 

 sown rather thinly in deep pans, and allowed 

 to remain without pricking off or shifting for 

 the first season; also by division of the roots. 

 (G. W. Oliver.) 



INDEX. 



alba, 3. 

 aurea, 5. 

 aurantiaca, 5. 

 bicolor, 8. 

 brasiliensis, 6. 

 caryophyHacea, 8. 

 chilensis, 2. 

 Flos-Martinii, 8. 

 heemantha, 4. 



ffookeri, 8. pulchra, 8. 



Ligtu, 8. quillotensis, 3. 



lutea, 5. revoluta, 10. 

 niveo-marginata, 7. Simxii, 4. 



Petegrina, 3. sulphured, 7. 



peruviana, 7. ligrina, 7. 



psittacina, 1. versicolor, 7. 



pulchella, 14. violacea, 9. 



179. Alstrcemeria pul- 

 chella. (X>i) 



A. Lvs. of fl.-st. (or scape) broad, oblong or oblong- 

 spatidate. 



1. pulchella, Linn. f. (A. psittacina, Lehm.). Fig. 179. 

 Sterile st. a foot or less long, with aggregated petioled 

 lys.: flowering st. 2-3 ft., with scattered Ivs. : fls. in a 

 simple umbel, on pedicels 1-1 K in- long, long funnel- 

 shaped, the segms. unequal, dark red and tipped with 

 green and spotted inside with brown; stamens nearly as 

 long as limb. Brazil. Fig. 179 is of the A. psittacina, 

 B.M. 3033. An old garden plant. 



2. chilensis, Cree. CHILIAN LILY. Stout, 2-4 ft. : Ivs. 

 scattered, obovate or spatulate, or the upper becom- 

 ing lanceolate, twisted at the base, fringed, somewhat 

 glaucous: fls. large, rose or red (or varying to whitish), 

 the two lower segms. longer and straighter; umbel with 

 5 or 6 2-fld. peduncles. Chile. 



AA. Lvs. of fl.-st. lanceolate (at least the lower ones). 

 B. Fls. purplish or red. 



3. Pelegrina, Linn. Fl.-st. stout, a foot or less high: 

 Ivs. about 30, thin, ascending, 2 in. or less long and J^in. 

 or less wide: fl. 2 in. or less long, lilac, the outer segms. 



broad and cuspidate, the inner ones spotted red-purple: 

 umbel few-rayed, normally simple, but becoming com- 

 pound in cult. Also a pure white variety (A. alba, 

 Hort.). A. quillolensis, Hort., is a robust cult. form. 

 Chile. B.M. 139. Gn. 46, p. 472. L.B.C. 13:1295. 



4. haemantha, Ruiz & Pav. (A. Simsii, Spreng.). Fl.- 

 st. 2-3 ft.: Ivs. crowded and thin, somewhat stalked, 

 31 in. long and i^in. or less wide, the upper becoming 

 linear, glaucous beneath: fls. 2 in. or less long, bright 

 red tipped green, the inner ones with red-purple spots 

 on a red-yellow ground; umbel very compound, the 

 branches 4-6 in. long. A white-fld. variety is cult. 

 Chile. B.M. 2353 (as A. pukhetta). 



BB. Fls. yellow or yellowish. 



5. aurantiaca, Don (A. aurea, Hort.). Fl.-st. 2-4 ft. 



high: Ivs. nearly 50, thin, some- 

 what petiolate, slightly glaucous 

 below, 3-4 ft. long and H m - wide: 

 fls. 10-30, in a compound umbel, 

 the perianth bright yellow, outer 

 segms. tipped green and inner ones 

 spotted brown. There is a form 

 with pale, unspotted fls. Chile. 

 B.M. 3350 (as A. aurea). Gn. 26: 

 540. A. lutea, Hort., is probably a 

 form of this species. 



6. brasiliensis, Spreng. St. 3-4 ft.: Ivs. 

 remote thickish, oblong-lanceolate, 2 in. long: 

 fl. IK m - long) m a 5-rayed umbel (each ray 

 bearing 1-3 fls.), the segms. oblong-spatulate 

 and reddish yellow, the inner ones spotted 

 brown; stamens shorter than segms. Brazil. 



AAA. Lvs. of fl.-st. linear. 



7. versicolor, Ruiz & Pav. (A. peruviana, 

 Van Houtte. A. sulphitrea and A. tigrlna, 

 Hort.). Fl.-st. short (1 ft. or less high): Ivs. 

 many, the lower ones about 1 in. long: fls. 1 

 in. long, in a nearly simple umbel, yellow 

 spotted purple, the segms. all oblanceolate 

 and acute. A marginate 1-fld. form is var. 

 nlveo-marginata. Chile. 



8. Ligtu, Linn. Fl.-st. l^f-2 ft.: Ivs. 20-30, 

 thin, the lowermost becoming lanceolate, 2-3 

 in. long: fls. 1}^ in. long, in a nearly or quite 

 simple umbel, whitish, lilac or pale red, 

 streaked purple, the inner segms. often ob- 

 tuse. Var. pulchra, Baker (A. pulchra, Sims, 

 B.M. 2421. A. Fl6s-Mdrtinii, Ker, B.R. 731. 

 A. bicolor, L.B.C. 15:1497), has narrower and 

 longer Ivs., and all the segms. acute or cuspi- 

 date. Chile. Common and variable in cult. 



A. Hodkeri, Lodd., is a form of A. Ligtu. The A. Ligtu 

 of B.M. 125 is A. caryophyllea, Jacq., with long-clawed, 

 very unequal segms. in two sets or lips, red and red- 

 striped. Brazil. 



9. violacea, Phill. St. 1-2 ft.: Ivs. scattered and 

 spreading, 1 in. or less long, those on sterile shoots 

 larger, ovate-oblong and 5-neryed: fls. on forked pedi- 

 cels in a 5-rayed umbel, lJ^-2 in. long, bright lilac, the 

 outer segms. obovate, truncate and with a short cusp, 

 the inner oblong-acute, spotted. Chile. 



10. revoluta, Ruiz & Pav. Fl.-st. 1 ft. or more: Ivs. 

 crowded, linear, 1}^ in. or less: fls. 6-12, purplish, %in. 

 or less, the segms. oblanceolate-clawed, reflexed or 

 spreading from the middle in full bloom, the inner 

 segms. yellowish and spotted. Chile. L. jj_ 3 



ALTAMIRANOA (named for Dr. F. Altamirano, late 

 Director of the Institute Medico Nacional, of the City 

 of Mexico). Crassulacex. Low, much-branched peren- 

 nials with the habit and foliage of Sedum, but with the 

 petals united into a distinct tube. On account of the 

 tubular fls., some of the species were first described 



