5O8 GENERAL REVIEW. 



parent, the reverse was the case when pollen from A. japonica 

 was used to fertilise A. vitifolia. 



The Hepaticas are referred to the last-named genus, and are 

 very beautiful spring-flowering plants. H. triloba is the plant 

 so often met with in cottage gardens, and its seminal varieties 

 are white, rose-coloured, blue, lilac, or purple. These plants 

 are dwarf and very profuse bloomers, and might perhaps be 

 yet further improved by crossing the single-flowered varieties 

 with some of the larger-flowered spring-blooming Anemones. 

 H. angulosa is the only other species, and of this there are only 

 two varieties, differing mainly in the size of their flowers, which 

 are of a delicate lilac colour. They are readily propagated 

 either by division or by seed, as in Anemone. 



Aquilegia (Columbines}. A genus of American, European, 

 or Asiatic plants of elegant habit, bearing blue and white, 

 purple, scarlet, or yellow flowers. A. vulgar is is variable in 

 colour (as, indeed, are nearly all the species), and is a native 

 of this country. A. aurea, an American plant, bears showy, 

 long-spurred, yellow flowers. A. glandulosa is one of the finest, 

 having large blue and white flowers, this having been intro- 

 duced from Siberia in 1822. Most of the species are natives 

 of Siberia and the Altaian Mountains. They are readily pro- 

 pagated either by division or by seed, which is freely produced. 

 A. canadensis is distinct, bearing scarlet and yellow flowers; 

 and this might give a permanent race if crossed with M. blanda, 

 M. glandulosa, or some of the finest seminal forms of A. vul- 

 garis. These flowers are quite hardy, and so distinct in form 

 that one would like to see them further improved, either by 

 seminal variation and selection or by carefully hybridising the 

 finest species and varieties. Even in a state of nature these 

 plants vary much in the size and colour of their flowers, and 

 it is probable that there are but few true species among them. 

 Aquilegia hybrida is a party-coloured seminal form, said to have 

 accidentally originated in considerable quantities among seed- 

 lings of A. canadensis, and may possibly be a hybrid between 

 the last-named species and A. vulgaris. The colour of its 

 flowers is purple and white, with bluish spurs. M. Lemaire 

 mentions a case in which a seedling plant, very nearly resem- 

 bling A. blanda, was produced in the garden of M. Verschaf- 

 felt, presumably by the accidental intercrossing of A. leptoceras 

 with a variety of A. vulgar ts. Seed should be sown on a warm 

 sunny border in autumn or as soon as ripe. Sow thinly, so that 

 the young plants do not overcrowd each other, and most of them 

 will then flower either the first or second season. Gaertner 

 remarks that the seeds obtainable by fertilising A. atropurpurea 



