THE TULIP. 277 



have a yellow ground marked with purple or scarlet. 

 2. The ^i/hloemens with a white ground, marked with 

 violet or purple. 3. The Roses, with a white ground, 

 marked with rose or cherry color. 4. The Self or 

 Plain-coloured tulips, which are of one uniform color, 

 and are chiefly valued as breeders. The bybloemen 

 class includes most of those tulips which are held in 

 high estimation in Britain ; but the rose or cherry colored 

 are perhaps the most pleasing. 



The properties of a fine late tulip, as specified by 

 Mr. Hogg, are the following, somewhat abridged. The 

 stem should be strong, erect, thirty inches high : the 

 flower .large, of six petals (sepals), which should pro- 

 ceed almost horizontally at first, and, turning up, should 

 form an almost perfect cup, with a round bottom, rather 

 widest at top. The three exterior petals should be 

 rather larger than the three interior ones : the limbs 

 of the petals should be rounded, and freed from every 

 species of serrature. The ground color of the flower 

 at the bottom should be clear white or clear yellow ; 

 and the various rich colored stripes, which are the 

 principar ornament of a fine tulip, should be regular, 

 bold, and distinct at the margin, and terminate in fine 

 broken points, elegantly feathered or penciled. There 

 are other refinements upon which florists are not quite 

 agreed : and it must be confessed that their standard 

 of excellence .is- somewhat factitious ; for, to an unin- 

 structed eye, though practiced in the contemplation of 

 other sorts of beauty, a tulip, which by them is looked 

 upon as worthless, will often appear as fine as the 

 choicest variety in the select bed. Fine tulips are so 

 numerous that it is scarcely pos&ible to name the most 



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