3428 



VALLISNERIA 



Both kinds of fls. are very small, and they are borne 

 on separate plants. Eel-grass is readily collected, or 

 can be procured from dealers in aquarium supplies or 

 from collectors of native plants. The plant is sometimes 

 called "wild celery," because it is said to impart a 

 celery-like flavor to wild ducks that feed on it. 



spiralis, Linn. EEL-GRASS. TAPE-GRASS. Fig. 3898. 

 Hardy submerged aquatic plant: Ivs. thin, linear, 5- 

 nerved, sometimes serrate near the apex: fls. white. 

 Aug., Sept. N. S. to Fla. and westward; Eurasia; 

 Austral. R.B. 20, p. 194. V. 4:157. 



WM. TRICKER. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



VALLOTA (named for Pierre Vallot, French botan- 

 ist). Amaryllidaceae. SCARBOROUGH LILY. Green- 

 house tunicate bulb: scape robust, hollow: fls. large, in 

 many umbels, sessile or shortly pedicelled; perianth 

 funnel-shaped, straight, erect, tube short, throat large, 

 lobes oblong-ovate; stamens affixed at the base of the 

 lobes and shorter than them; ovary 3-celled: caps, 

 oblong-ovate, dehiscent from the base. One species, 

 S. Afr. It has been proposed that Vallota be considered 

 a subgenus of Cyrtanthus. The latter is a group of 

 about 20 species of plants with fls. of various colors and 

 naked at the throat. Cyrtanthus proper and the sub- 

 genus Monella have beautiful pendulous fls. in umbels, 

 but the plants are not so easy to grow as Vallota. It 

 has been suggested that they be crossed with the more 

 robust Vallota in the hope of combining their varied 

 colors and pendulous grace with the strong constitu- 

 tion of the Vallota. Such a process would be similar to 

 the one by which the noble race of Hippeastrum hybrids 

 has been given to the world. Vallota is undoubtedly 

 related to Cyrtanthus through the subgenus Gas- 

 tronema, which has erect fls. and differs chiefly in the 

 stamens. Of this subgenus C. sanguineus is in the trade 

 (p. 945). The best form of Vallota seems to be the 

 variety magnified. 



The Scarborough lily is generally rated as a green- 

 house bulb, but it can be grown by the amateur who 

 has no glass, provided the plant can be kept over winter 

 in a well-lighted cellar. Many persons have had no suc- 

 cess with vallota. Such failures are generally due to the 

 plants being kept too dry during winter. Although 

 Baker says the leaves die down at the Cape in autumn, 

 the plant acts like an evergreen in cultivation. Unlike 

 most bulbous plants, the vallota should never be dried 

 off but kept moderately moist about the roots through- 

 out the year. The vallota is also strongly opposed to 

 interference with its roots. It is possible to preserve a 

 flowering specimen in most luxuriant health for three or 

 four years without repotting, simply by applying liquid 

 manure to the roots occasionally during the summer. 

 The culture of vallota is not difficult when its pecu- 

 liarities are understood. Several years are needed to 

 work up a good plant to the specimen size. A vallota 

 bulb is about twice as large as a hyacinth. For the first 

 potting use a light soil, with a little sand at the base of 

 the bulb, and place the bulb a distance below the sur- 

 face equal to its own diameter. Use as small a pot as 

 possible at every stage; shift only when the soil is well 

 filled with roots and be careful to break no roots when 

 shifting to a larger pot. The final potting is an impor- 

 tant operation, as the plant is not to be disturbed again 

 for three or four years. Drainage should be ample and 

 perfect. It is essential that the potting soil be of a 

 strong permanent nature and rich in plant-food. A 

 good compost consists of turfy loam, fibrous peat and 

 old cow-manure in equal parts. Add a little sand and 

 charcoal. Avoid repotting until it is strictly necessary, 

 and do so only when it is required to increase the num- 

 ber of plants or when there is danger of the roots break- 

 ing the pot. For amateurs the best time to repot the 

 plants is directly after the flowering period. Use the 



VALLOTA 



greatest care in handling the roots. Allow the bulbs to 

 project a little beyond the surface. Some gardeners 

 prefer to repot vallota in June or July when root-action 

 has started, but before the flower-stems have pushed up. 

 Vallota likes full sunshine at all times of the year. The 

 plant will stand a few degrees of frost in winter. Beware 

 of over-potting; it is better to have the bulbs crowd one 

 another out of the pot. Amateurs sometimes raise 

 vallotas in the window-garden, one bulb in a 6-inch 

 pot with one or two flower-stalks, but a large specimen 

 is well worth years of care. The Scarborough lily has 

 been cultivated by rich and poor for over a century. Its 

 popular name is supposed to have been derived in 

 same way as the Guernsey lily, a Dutch bark having 

 been wrecked off the coast of England, some bulbs 

 washed ashore and became established as garden plants. 

 Vallota is considerably grown for the London market, 

 and it is said that some growers succeed in blooming 

 their plants twice the same year, in winter and summer. 

 At the Cape, the species is said to be native to peat- 

 bogs, which fact would account for the special winter 

 treatment which it needs. In California the plant 

 blooms at various times of the year. (Michael Barker.) 

 purpftrea, Herb. SCARBOROUGH LILY. Fig. 3899. Bulb 

 large: Ivs. appearing with the fls., strap-shaped, 1J/2-2 



ft. long, dying 

 down in autumn: 

 peduncle hollow, 

 slightly 2-edged, 

 2-3 ft. long: fls. 

 scarlet. G.I: 36; 

 3:479; 9:331; 

 10:77; 37:89. 

 Gn. 30, p. 245; 

 42, p. 273; 59, 

 p. 44; 68, p. 385; 

 71, p. 544. G.Z. 

 15:32. J.H.III. 

 45 : 453. R. H. 

 1870:50 (as V. 

 grandiflora). A. 

 F. 9:211. Gng. 

 2:361. A. G. 

 14:81. The 

 typical form has 

 the scapes about 

 \Yi ft. high and 

 blood - red fls. 



3899. Scarborough lily. Vailota purpurea. 

 (From a specimen 2 feet high.) 



2H in. across. 

 Var. alba, Hort., 

 is a white - fld. 

 form. G.C. III. 



36 : 150. Var. major, Hort., is 3 ft. high and has fls. over 

 Sin. across. B.M. 1430 (as Amaryllis purpurea). Var. 

 minor, Hort., is smaller than the type in all parts. B.R. 

 552 (as Amaryllis purpurea var. minor). Var. eximia, 

 Bull., has fls. 4 in. across, with whitish, feather-like 

 blotches on the base of the perianth-segms. Var. 

 magnifica. Hort., is probably the best and most robust 

 form: fls. 5 in. across, with a white eye. Colors said to 

 be brighter and more uniform than in any other kind. 

 Gn. 30:244. G.C. III. 3:240. F. purpurea is a S. 

 African representative of the American genus Hippeas- 

 trum, popularly known as "amaryllis." It is a bulbous 

 Elant with large red funnel-shaped. 6-lobed fls., 

 looming in Sept. and later. A pair of well-grown 

 specimens in large pots or tubs make a showy orna- 

 ent for the porch. Plants have been grown with over 

 50 fl. -trusses, each truss bearing an umbel of 4-9 fls., the 

 individual fls. being 3-4 in. or more across. Vallota 

 is a monotypic genus and is distinguished from Hip- 

 peastrum by the seeds being winged at the base. The 

 tube of the fl. is longer than in the typical Hippeas- 

 trums and at the base of each perianth-segm. is a 

 cushion-shaped callus somewhat different from the 

 minute scales or distinct neck that is often found at the 



