552 ERYTHRONIUM. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ERYTHRONIUM. 



seeds are bright scarlet, and should be 

 sown in heat as early as practicable, 

 the seedlings being kept in a frame 

 for the first winter. This species is a 

 native of Texas, and is found as far 

 north as Carolina, and as far west as 

 Sonora. 



ERYTHRONIUM (Dog's-tooth Violet}. 

 Lilaceous bulbs, among the loveliest of 

 our hardy flowers, though the old 

 favourite Dens-canis is the only one 

 commonly cultivated. The genus con- 

 tains only about a dozen species and 

 varieties. These belong to N. America, 

 with the exception of 



E. Dens-canis, a beautiful plant found 

 in various parts of Europe. It has hand- 



Eryngium Oliverianum. 



some oval leaves, with patches of reddish- 

 brown. The rosy-purple or lilac flowers 

 are borne singly on stems 4 to 6 in. high, 

 and droop gracefully. One variety has 

 white flowers, one rose-coloured, and one 

 flesh-coloured. E. longifolium has longer 

 and narrower leaves and larger flowers, 

 and the sorts enumerated in catalogues 

 under the name of majus are apparently 

 derived from this variety. E. Dens-canis 

 thrives in moist sandy or peaty soil, when 

 fully exposed to the sun. It is most 

 valuable for the spring or rock-garden, or 

 for a border of choice hardy bulbs, and, 

 where it is sufficiently plentiful, for 

 edgings to American plants in peat soil. 

 The bulbs are white and oblong, re- 

 sembling a dog's tooth, hence its name. 



It is increased by dividing the bulbs 

 every two or three years, and replant- 

 ing rather deeply. Central Europe. The 

 varieties sibiricum, a robust plant from 

 the Altaian Mountains, and japonicum, 

 with" violet-purple flowers, are not, so 

 far as we are aware, yet in culti- 

 vation. 



E. americanum (Yellow Adder 3 s- 

 tongue] is common in the woods and low 

 copses of the Eastern States of N. 

 America, where it flowers in May. Its 

 pale green leaves are mottled, and com- 

 monly dotted with purple and white. 

 Flowers I in. across, pale yellow, and 

 spotted near the base ; they appear on 

 slender stalks 6 to 9 in. high. A variety 

 (E. bracteatum) differs in having a bract 

 developed, as E. grandiflorum sometimes 

 has. It is very pretty, but, being a some- 

 what shy flowerer, is seldom seen in 

 cultivation. The late Mr. M'Nab was 

 very successful with it in the Edinburgh 

 Botanic Garden, and writes in an early 

 volume of The Garden : " This interesting- 

 plant formerly grew in the open border 

 here, but its flowers were rarely seen. 

 Some years ago I put a tuft of the bulbs 

 in one of the stone compartments of the 

 rock-garden, with a southern aspect, the 

 soil being a mixture of peat and loam. 

 As soon as the space became filled with 

 roots, flowers were freely produced, and 

 on the 20th of April it was covered with 

 yellow blooms. In these confined spaces 

 the bulbs are better matured than in open 

 borders, where the ground is generally 

 covered with small green leaves growing 

 from unmatured bulbs, and there are few 

 of the larger spotted leaves which 

 generally accompany the flowers." The 

 rich soil of our gardens probably develops 

 growth at the expense of flower. In 

 poor sandy soil, in copses, or in the 

 wild garden, this little plant may bloom 

 better. 



E. giganteum. This, the noblest of 

 the genus, is considered a variety of E. 

 grandiflorum. Its showy flowers of pure 

 white have a ring of bright orange-red, 

 and measure 3 in. in diameter. It is 

 found in California at an elevation of six 

 to ten thousand feet, and also in Van- 

 couver's Island. It was called E. 

 maximum by Douglas, and E. speciosum 

 by Nuttall. 



E. grandiflorum. The only cultivated 

 kind with more than one flower on a stem. 

 It is extremely handsome when well 

 grown. In a peat bed, with Lilies and 

 other peat-loving plants, it is very fine, 

 and produces as many as five flowers on 

 a stem. The late Mr. M'Nab used to 



