264 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



matts over the bed, or you may lose them ; the next day 

 you had better take them up, dry arid pack them in saud ; 

 be careful that your buibs be sufficiently dry, or they will 

 mould and rot. 



TULIP. 



(TULIP GESERIANA.) 



" Then comes the Tulip race, whose beauty plays 

 Her idle freaks, from family diffused 

 To family, as flies the father dust 

 The varied colors run; and while they break 

 On the charmed eye, the exulting florist marks 

 With secret pride, the wonders of his hand.'* 



This is one of those ornamental bulbous rooted plants 

 that has created so much excitement in the floral world, 

 flowering in April and May. Stem generally one flowered 

 and smooth ; corolla at the extreme ; petals acute, bearded 

 at .the end ; leaves lanceolate. This beautiful and grace- 

 ful flowering bulb is a native of the Levant, and is also 

 common along the banks of the Bosphorus and different 

 parts of Syria. It was first taken from its native country 

 over two hundred and sixty years ago, and has created 

 much excitement among florists up to the present epoch. 

 When first discovered their colors were crimson and yel- 

 low ; the florist, by care and good management, has made 

 them produce all the gorgeous colors imaginable, and so 



