368 GENERAL REVIEW. 



It is curious to observe that at the base of each petaloid seg- 

 ment of the flower is a little pit or depression filled with a 

 viscid fluid, which may be. found to be an aid to the fertilisation 

 of these plants. In F. imperialis, " Crown Imperial," this fluid 

 shines with a beautiful pearl-like lustre. Little or nothing 

 appears to have been done to improve the plants in this genus ; 

 but some of the species belonging to the solitary-flowered or 

 F. meleagris section are certainly among the most graceful, from 

 an artistic point of view, of all hardy bulbs. The prevailing 

 colours are purple, brown, yellow, white, and green. Careful 

 hybridisation might give very distinct races of these elegant 

 flowering bulbs. F. oxypetala, a purple - flowered Indian 

 species, is now referred to the genus Lilium, while the plant 

 known as Lilittm giganteum and its ally Z. cordifolium are by 

 some referred to Fritillaria. F. oxypetala certainly looks inter- 

 mediate, and it would be interesting to attempt to hybridise 

 some of the Fritillarias with the Lilies which most nearly 

 approach them in structure and affinity. I am convinced 

 that the gardener can assist the botanist very materially in 

 the matter of determining genera by careful experiments in 

 hybridising. 



Hyacinthus (Hyacinths). A genus of showy bulbs, repre- 

 sented in our gardens by innumerable seminal forms of H. 

 orientalis (see 'Bot. Mag.,' t. 937), which appears to have been 

 introduced to our gardens from the Levant prior to 1596, as it 

 is mentioned by both Gerarde and Parkinson, and the last- 

 named author figures several varieties at p. 121 of his ' Para- 

 disus' (1629). The oriental Hyacinth varies in colour through 

 all the shades of white and creamy yellow to blue, purple, lilac, 

 rose, and magenta. Seedlings from good varieties produce 

 a fair percentage of novel forms, and the best of these are 

 then propagated by dividing the bulbs. H. romanus (H. 

 italicus) is the early Roman Hyacinth, which is often forced 

 for cut -flowers before the varieties of H. orientalis com- 

 mence to bloom. New varieties of Hyacinths have long been 

 originated by the Dutch florists, and this favourite flower, and 

 the Tulip, Narcissus, Anemone, Iris, Crocus, &c., are popu- 

 larly known as " Dutch bulbs," these being chiefly cultivated 

 near Haarlem and Lisse, and owe their superiority as much to 

 the suitable texture and position of the soil a calcareous sand 

 resting on peat as to the lavish use of manure. An area of 

 125 acres devoted to Hyacinth-growing near Haarlem, is esti- 

 mated to bring in a revenue of nearly ^3 0,000. In 1859, 

 bulbs were exported to the value of ^12,700; and in 1862 

 the village of Bloemendaal, " the Valley of Flowers," sent forth 



