270 



AMARANTHS 



AMARYLLIS 



stalked, green: spikes red, long and slender, naked, in a 

 long and drooping panicle, the terminal one forming a 

 long, cord-like tail. Also vars. with yellowish and whitish 

 panicles. Tropics. G.W. 6:709. Common, and an old 

 favorite. Var. atropurpureus, Hort. Foliage blood-red. 

 Var. albirlorus, Hort. Spikes white or greenish white. 

 Var. gibbdsus, Hort. Plant not large: fls. red, clustered 

 in more or less separated fascicles or heads. 



184. Amarantus 



caudatus. (XM) 



BB. Spikes erect. 



hypochondriacus, Linn. PRINCE'S FEATHER. Tall 

 and glabrous: Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, acute: spikes 

 blunt, aggregated into a thick, lumpy terminal panicle, 

 of which the central part is elongated: bracts long- 

 awned. An old garden plant, with the heavy heads 

 variously colored, but mostly purple. Lvs. usually 

 purple or purple-green. Trpp. Amer. Cult, in many 

 forms and sometimes a weed in old grounds. Considered 

 by some to be a form of A. hybridus, Linn. (A. hybridus 

 var. hypochondridcus, Rob.). Var. sanguineus, Hort. 

 (A. cruentus, Hort., not Willd.). Entire plant blood- 

 red. Var. virescens, Hort. Lvs. green above, purplish 

 beneath. Var. viridis, Hort. Plant green, except the 

 floral parts. Var. racemosus, Moq. Lateral fl. -branches 

 elongated, light-colored. There are other garden forms. 



paniculatus, Linn. (A. hybridus var. paniculatus, 

 Uhne & Bray). St. usually pubescent: Ivs. oblong- 

 ovate to ovate-lanceolate, broader than in the last: 

 spikes thinner than in the last, acute or acutish, and 

 in an open, more graceful terminal panicle: bracts 

 sharp-pointed but not long-awned. Trop. Amer. 

 Common, and sometimes a weed. Var. specidsus 

 (A. speciosus, Sims, B.M. 2227). Stout, large, erect 

 plant (3}^-4^ ft.), with sts. and Ivs. reddish or purple- 

 green: panicle dark red-purple; handsome. Var. cru- 

 entus, Moq. (A. cruentus, Linn., not Hort.). Lateral 

 fl.-branches spreading - nodding, blood-red. Var. 

 sanguineus, Moq. Lateral branches long, slender, 

 often nodding at the tip: fls. and some or all the Ivs. 

 blood-red. Var. flavescens, Voss. Panicles large and 

 branched, yellowish or greenish. 



gangeticus, Linn. Usually a lower plant ; 3 ft. or 

 less and often only 1 ft., with thin, ovate-pointed Ivs., 

 and fls. in short, glomerate, interrupted spikes, both 

 terminal and axillary. Tropics. Very variable. Cult, 

 by Amer. Chinese (Fig. 185) as a pot-herb under the 

 name of hon-toi-moi, with green Ivs. (Bailey, Bull. 

 67, Cornell Exp. Sta.). Various dwarf and compact 

 bedding forms are common. Used more for foliage 

 than for fl.-panicles. Var. melancholicus, Voss (A. 

 melanchdlicus, Linn.). Lvs. variously colored, some- 

 times mostly in two colors (A. bicolor. Hort.), and also 

 in three colors (A. tricolor, Hort.): Ivs. long-petioled, 

 broadly to narrowly lanceolate. Here belong the 

 JOSEPH'S COAT group of the bedding amaranths. 



Many Latin-form names are in the catalogues, probably all of 

 which are referable to above species or are hybrids of them; as A. 



spltndtns, a form of A. gangetieuw var. melancholicus: A. specibsus 

 aureus, to A. paniculatus var. flavescens; A. Henderi, probably a 

 hybrid with A. salicifolius, or a var. of it. with long-drooping, brown 

 Ivs., and tall, pyramidal stature; A. GArdimii, or Sunrise, with bronzy 

 banded Ivs. and brilliant scarlet Ivs. on top; A. supirbus, Ivs. 

 blood-red above and crimson beneath, probably one of the melan- 

 cholicus forms; A. Dussii, Spreng., with Ivs. and fls. bright colored, 

 and suggested as a var. of A. spinosus, which is a smooth weedy 

 species with 2 spines in the axils of the narrow-ovate or rhomb- 

 ovate Ivs. A. Huttonii, Veitch=Celosia, T TT R 



AMARYLLIS (classical name). Amaryllidacex. 

 Summer- or autumn-blooming bulbous plant (March 

 and Apr. at the Cape), the leaves usually appearing 

 later. 



Plant stout, producing many strap-like Ivs. : fls. large, 

 fragrant in a few- to several-fld. umbel; perianth with 

 a short ribbed tube, the divisions oblong or lanceo- 

 late, the filaments distinct and no scale between them; 

 stamens on the throat of the tube: fr. a globose caps., 

 opening irregularly. One species, from Cape of Good 

 Hope. In gardens, the hippeastrums (winter and spring 

 bloomers) are known as Amaryllis. 



In dealing with the culture of amaryllis, it is cus- 

 tomary to speak of the genus in its horticultural sense, 

 to include hippeastrum and related things. Such is 

 the understanding in the following cultural directions. 

 There are two widely differing methods of cultivating 

 the amaryllis to produce showy flowers in the spring 

 months, the border method and the pot method. Any 

 one trying both of these methods will soon come 

 to the conclusion that they differ not only in method, 

 but in flower-producing results. The first method 

 is to plant the bulbs in a prepared border after they 

 are done flowering, say about the middle of May. 

 The border should have perfect drainage, and, if con- 

 venient, be on the south side of a house or wall, fully 

 exposed to the sun during the greater part of the day. 

 The bulbs are set out in rows, necessarily with as little 

 disturbance of the roots as possible, because, if they 

 are bulbs that have undergone similar treatment the 

 previous year, by the middle of May they have made 

 a considerable number of new roots; besides, the foliage 

 also has gained some headway, and may be considered 

 as in actual growth. In planting, carefully firm the soil 

 around the old balls, give one watering, and on the 

 succeeding day, after the surface of the soil has been 

 raked over, cover to the depth of 2 inches with half- 

 decayed cow-manure. With frequent waterings during 

 the summer and the removal of weeds, they will need 

 no more attention until the approach of cool weather, 

 when they should be lifted, sized, and potted; however, 

 at this season, if wet weather has predominated, some 

 of the bulbs will be in a semi-dormant state, while the 

 majority will yet be in active growth. Here is the draw- 

 back to this method : The roots are large and fleshy, they 



185. Amarantus gangeticus. { X H) 



take up considerable room in a 6- or 7-inch pot, and the 

 soil cannot be evenly distributed amongst them, neither 

 can it be made as firm as it should be. The result is 

 the partial decay of the roots and leaves, and in the 

 spring, when the flower scapes appear, they are devel- 

 oped at the expense of the bulb, through having insuffi- 

 cient roots to take up nourishment from the soil. The 

 flowers are small, few in number, and do not show what 

 the plant is capable of. Partly to ameliorate these 



