610 



FKEESIA 



FRITILLARIA 



In the home window Freesias will flower in 6 weeks 

 after growth starts. Their fragrance is delightful. 

 They are not so particular as the other important bulbs 

 about being potted long before they are wanted for forc- 

 ing and stored in a cool place, where the tops are held 

 back while the roots develop. Be careful to have good 

 drainage. There is danger of overwatering until the 

 plants are in flower. 



The wholesale production of Freesia bulbs is an im- 

 portant industry. The Channel Islands have long been 

 known as one of the most favored localities for growing 

 Cape bulbs. Freesias are comparatively little grown in 

 Holland. The centers of the industry seem to be shift- 

 ing. The Bermuda Islands now have a small share of 

 the trade, and California has the largest share of any of 

 the American states at present. 



A. Fls. distinctly %-lipped : inflorescence straggling: 

 colors dull; spots prominent. 



refracta, Klatt. Fig. 870. The original type no longer 

 in cultivation. Lvs. linear: spathe-valves small, oblong- 

 lanceolate, scarious. 



AA. Fls. and inflorescence more nearly regular: colors 

 purer; spots not prominent. 



B. Tube typically long, slender and gradually narrowed. 



Var. alba. Fig. 870. Lvs. and spathe-valves as in 

 var. odorata. 



BB. Tube typically short, broad, suddenly constricted. 

 c. Color pale yellow. 



Var. Lelchtlinii. Fig. 869. There is a subvariety 

 majar int. by Sutton. 



cc. Color bright yellow. 



Var. odorata. Lvs. broader and less rigid than in the 

 type: spathe-valves broader and more obtuse. Subva- 

 rieties with various colors are Idctea, lilaclna, formosa 

 and Klatteana. 



ccc. Color orange. 



Var. aurea. Odorless, later than the rest and more 

 uncertain. 



Other kinds of less importance are crispa, tricolor, xantho- 

 spica, purpurascens and xanthospila. These names do not 

 appear in American catalogues. Bella is a variety highly 

 praised by some. -^y^ ]yj < 



FREM6NTIA (after John Charles Fremont, dis- 

 tinguished western explorer, who discovered it in 1846). 

 Syn. Fremontodendron. Sterculiacece. Beautiful free- 

 flowering shrub, with alternate, rather small, palmately- 

 lobed Ivs. and large yellow fls. appearing in great pro- 

 fusion in June. It is not hardy North, and in cool re- 

 gions it should have a sunny and sheltered position, 

 preferably against a wall of southern aspect ; it pre- 

 fers well-drained, rather dry soil, and dislikes, espe- 

 cially during the winter, an excess of moisture. Prop, by 

 seeds or by greenwood cuttings under glass in summer. 

 One species in California, allied to the Mexican Chei- 

 ranthodendron : shrub or small tree, with stellate pu- 

 bescence : Ivs. alternate, slender- petioled : fls. solitary 

 on short, lateral branchlets, apetalous ; calyx large, 

 deeply 5-parted, with 3 small bracts at the base ; sta- 

 mens 5-connate toward the base into a tube : fr. a 5- 

 celled, dehiscent capsule with many seeds. 



Calif6rnica, Torr. To 20 ft. : Ivs. generally roundish 

 ovate, cordate or rounded at the base, obtuse, 3- to 5- 

 lobed or almost entire, whitish or ferrugineous pubes- 

 cent beneath, %-!% in. long : calyx 1^-3 in. across, 

 deep yellow, with stellate hairs outside, villous at the 

 base within ; lobes orbicular : capsule densely beset 

 with hispid hairs, '1 in. long. S. 8.1:23. B.M. 5591. Gn. 

 3, p. 55; 29: 525 and 33, p. 566. F.S. 22:2349. R.H. 1867:90. 

 I.H. 13:496. B.H. 17:13. ALFRED REHDER . 



FRINGE TREE. Chionanthus Virginica. 



FRITILLARIA (Latin fritillus, commonly understood 

 to be a checker-board, but may have meant dice-box). 

 Liliacece. This genus includes the Crown Imperial and 



the Fritillaries, hardy, bulbous plants, mostly low- 

 growing and spring-blooming, with drooping or nod- 

 ding fls. which are often checkered or tessellated with 

 dark purple and green, but some also have brighter colors. 

 They resemble lilies in having drooping or nodding fls., 

 but their anthers are fixed at the base, while those of the 

 lilies are fastened on the back but are free to swing 

 about. Lilies, too, have funnel-shaped fls., while Fritil- 

 laries and tulips have bell-shaped fls., and tulip fls. are 

 erect. Nearly all the Old World Fritillaries resemble 

 tulips in having coated bulbs, while all the American 

 Fritillaries resemble lilies in having scaly bulbs. It is 

 a curious fact that the Cape of Good Hope, which has 

 supplied the world with so many excellent bulbous 

 plants, has no lilies, tulips or Fritillaries. 



By far the most popular kinds are the Checkered Lily 



871. Common Snake's-head or Checkered Lily. 



(Fritillaria Meleagris.) 



Faithfully redrawn from Besler's Hortus Eystettensis, 

 published in 1613. (Incorrect as to stamens and pistil.) 



and Crown Imperial, Figs. 871, 874. These are the hardi- 

 est, the easiest to cultivate and the most variable. The 

 Crown Imperial is one of the most characteristic plants 

 of old-fashioned gardens, but it has been banished from 

 many modern gardens because of its strong foetid 

 odor". It is the most robust of all the species, and until 

 1897 was supposed to be the only one with its fls. in 

 umbels, all the others being solitary or in racemes. It 

 is a truly imperial plant, and rejoices the children early 

 in every spring by its marvelous pearly drops of nec- 

 tar, which seem never to fall. F. Meleagris, the most 

 popular of the purple kinds, is the common Snake'3 

 Head or Checkered Lily, so called from the tessellation 

 of purple and green, which is prettiest when as sharply 

 and regularly defined as possible. This plant grows 

 wild in moist English meadows, and can be naturalized 

 in large quantities in such situations. It is the only 

 kind that can be used for all the purposes mentioned 

 below and for cut-fls. Other ancient inhabitants of Eu- 

 ropean gardens are F. latifolia, lutea and Persica, for 

 the last of which we are indebted to "Mr. Nicholas Lete, 



