ON HYACINTHS 209 



to have been particularly rich in introductions. The 

 generic name is mythological. It is that of a beautiful 

 boy who was killed by Apollo, and from whose blood 

 the flower sprang. Being of noble birth, he was doubt- 

 less blue-blooded ; anyway, the Eastern Hyacinth was 

 blue, although we have many red varieties at the present 

 day. 



When we open an autumn bulb catalogue in these 

 piping times, we find the names of many dozens of 

 different varieties of Hyacinths. Some are single, 

 others double. The colours include light and dark 

 blue, blush, pink, rose, scarlet, crimson, yellow, lilac, 

 lavender, mauve, white, and purple. We find, too, the 

 " white Roman " Hyacinth, and here is a neat little trap 

 for the unwary. There is a species of Hyacinthus called 

 romanus ; it has white flowers ; it came from Italy. What 

 more natural than to conclude that it is our familiar 

 " white Roman " ? One can quite imagine an amateur 

 growling, "Well, if it isn't, it ought to be, if names 

 mean anything." In this case names do not go for 

 much, because the " white Roman " is merely a variety 

 of the Eastern Hyacinth called albulus, and has no con- 

 nection with romanus. The latter is not a very important 

 plant, but those who are sufficiently interested to turn up 

 the Botanical Magazine will find an illustration of it there, 

 t. 939. They will also find a plate of the original Eastern 

 Hyacinth, which is represented by /. 937. This is of 

 real interest, as it enables the Hyacinth lover to compare 

 the old plant with modern forms and note the progress 

 which has been made. 



We have a splendid selection of Hyacinths to choose 

 from to-day, and we owe most of them to the Dutch, 

 who, finding their light, sandy soil particularly adapted 

 to the propagation and culture of the plant, took it up 



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