THE MEADOW-SAFFRON FAMILY. 393 



last-named plant was obtained by crossing the varieties C. 

 Marechal Vaillant, and C. Depute Henon, its flowers being two 

 to three inches in diameter and deep crimson-scarlet in colour. 

 Other large-flowered varieties have been raised by M. Annee, 

 M. Sisley, M. Chate, and others; and some of the best of these 

 which seed freely might with advantage be crossed again with 

 C. iridiflora, so as to obtain a race of large-flowered kinds hav- 

 ing fixity of character. The following is a select list of the best- 

 flowering kinds, which may be used either as pollen or seed 

 bearing parents by the cultivator. The first class includes 

 dwarf kinds only say not above two feet in height ; the 

 second class grows three or four feet ; and the third class from 

 four to seven feet, or even taller. It will be seen that these 

 plants are of far nobler habit than the Gladiolus, and are also 

 of easier culture, and we hope to see many handsome seedlings 

 raised in English gardens as well as on the Continent, and we 

 may reasonably expect that some of these will rival the tropical 

 Marantas in foliage, and at the same time delight us with their 

 handsome flowers. 



First class Prince Imperial, bright scarlet; Bihorellii, or- 

 ange-scarlet ; Bihorellii elegans, Indian yellow ; Bihorellii sple?i- 

 dens, bright scarlet ; Michel Bonnett, bright crimson ; Gustave 

 Bonnett, orange-scarlet ; Mullerii, crimson ; grandiflora flori- 

 bunda, orange ; compacta, yellow, spotted red ; Ferrandii, bright 

 crimson. Second class Senateur Chereau, yellow, with red 

 spots ; lutescens, yellow ; Impemtor, dark scarlet, orange-spotted ; 

 gigantea floribunda, orange-buff ; rotundifolia rubra, orange ; 

 picturata fastuosa, light yellow, spotted red. Third class 

 Premice de Nice, canary-yellow; Auguste Ferrier, scarlet and 

 orange ; Rendatlerii, orange-buff; Depute Henon, yellow and 

 rosy-red, shaded ; Ernest Benary, orange-red ; Van Houttei, 

 bright orange-red. 



THE MEADOW-SAFFRON FAMILY (Melanthacece). 



Very few plants in cultivation belong to this order, the prin- 

 cipal being different species of Veratrum, Tricyrtis, Bulbo- 

 codium, and Colchicum or autumnal Meadow-saffron. The 

 flowers are very variable in form and size, being either uni- 

 sexual or hermaphrodite. Nearly all the cultivated species are 

 hardy ; but the order, although a small one, is widely dis- 

 tributed over the earth's surface. They are very poisonous. 

 The herbaceous section, like the Japanese Tricyrtis and the 

 European or American Veratrums, are readily multiplied by 



