350 Floricnltttrol and Bolajiical Notices, 



5cilla pra2^cox W. is fi^nircd in the Flowcr-Gardcn for May, t. 14-1., from" 

 the rich collection of hardy bulbs possessed by A.H. Haworth, Esq., who 

 received a bulb of the i'cilla prae'cox, alioiit four years airo, from the bo- 

 tanic garden at Bury St. Edmunds, under the name of .S\illa bifolia gigan- 

 tea ; a name bv which the |)lant has been sent out from that garden to the 

 garden of the Loudon Horticultural Society and to other places. It is 

 every way larger than 5'cilla bifolia ctrulea itself; and this is the readiest 

 distinction between them. It probably exists in other gardens, confounded 

 with i-Scilla bifolia ca;rulea, as it did in the Bury St. Eilmunds one, until 

 observed by the very discriminating eye of one of the supporters of that 

 garden, the Rev. (ireorge Reading Loathes. 



CCXLVII. Asphodilea: 



♦ 1064(J CA^IA'SSIA I/imll. [Qunmnsh or Camass, native n.ime in N.W. America.) 6.1. ksnhodilc/e. 1— 

 esculenta ijHrf/. esculent tf A or liJ' D.P Columbia 18J7. O p Bot. reg. 1+Slj 



Professor Lindley quotes from Pursh as follows: — " This plant is called 

 quamash by the native Indians ; and the bulbs are carefully collected by 

 them, and baked between hot stones, when they assume the appearance 

 of baked |)cars, and are of an agreeable taste. They form a great part of 

 their winter stores." This fact it has been usual to attach to the AYllla 

 esculenta, well figured in the Botanical Magazine, t. l.)74'. ; but Professor 

 Lindley remarks, that the Camu'mia esculenta " is the real cjuamass or 

 camass root of the North-west American Indians, we know upon the 

 authority of Mr. Douglas, who found it in the greatest profusion on 

 alluvial, grassy, and partly overflowed soils on the Columbia, in 1825. 

 Professor Lindley thus contrasts ^Vcilla esculenta ant! Camdssin esculenta : 

 — " In 6'cllla esculenta, the leaves are glaucous ; the flowers pale blue, and 

 much smaller ; the segments have a uniform direction and expansion ; the 

 stamens are shorter, and spreail equally round the pistillum, which is 

 straight. In Camassia esculenta, the leaves are bright green ; the flowers 

 deep purple; five of the segments have a direction upwards, while the 

 sixth is bent down ; the stamens are ascending, and the style is declinatc. 

 No doubt, therefore, can exist of their specific, or even of their generic, 

 difference." The flowers of this very beautiful plant are almost 2 in. 

 in diameter, and were produced, for the first time in Britain, in July, 

 18:J1, in the Horticultural Society's garden. Professor Lindley " scarcely 

 remembers to have seen a more strikingly handsome bulbous i)lant : no art 

 can do justice to the rich colour of the flower, which, although of the most 

 intense purple, yet is so relieved by the satiny sparkling lustre of the 

 cuticle, as to have quite a light and elegant efl'ect. It has been hitherto 

 cultivated in a peat border, under a north wall, where it grows freely, 

 proving perfectly hardy ; a few seeds were produced, and it is probable 

 that when the bulbs are stronger [they are now about the size of a filbert], 

 it will increase readily by seeds. Mr. Douglas also met with a white 

 variety, or rather perhaps species, of which .specimens arc in his herba- 

 rium." (Hot. Itrg.y April.) 

 CCXXXVni. Amarj/lMcx. 

 33.33. convnciA. 



S8152n fdlva //f)6. tawny.JliuH tf lAJ or 1 f. Taw S. Amer. 1829? O l.r.m. Bot reg. 1497 

 A beautiful species, nearly allied to the splendid C incarnjita of Sweet's 

 Flowcr-dardcn. The bulbs of this genus are hardy green-house plants ; 

 they may be kept dry in the winter, and planted out in the spring ; but 

 they will not endure the winter out of doors, exccjjt near the wall of a 

 stove. They produce an abundance of oflsets, which is probably the cause 

 of their rarely flowering with us. Perhaps a strong and richly manured 

 loam would promote their flowering." {Herbert in Hoi. lieg.y May.) 



* Sprekehrt llcixtcr formos{ssima Herbert, Amarylli.? formosissima L. 

 " Hcister first constituted this plant into a genus, and named it Sprekel/.'/, 



