10 THE CYCLAMEN 



cedars is covered in winter and spring with the opulent 

 leafage of C. Europceum (I am quite unable to distin- 

 guish between this and C. hedercefolium and Neapoli- 

 tanum, if indeed these are distinct species), and the 

 blush of delicate colour in autumn must be delightful. 

 Memory dwells fondly on the spring bloom of C. coun 

 by the roadsides at Tremough, near Falmouth, and on 

 the autumn display under the trees in Sir George 

 Holford's garden at Westonbirt. It is within the power 

 of any one who owns a bit of pleasure-ground to enjoy 

 the like, forasmuch as all that these hardy little plants 

 demand is good drainage, some lime in a poorish soil, 

 and freedom from competition with rank vegetation. 

 Even rats and mice leave the roots alone. 



Howbeit, much disappointment has befallen amateurs 

 in planting purchased roots. Even if the vitality of 

 these has not been impaired by storage in a dry, town 

 atmosphere, one is very apt to condemn them to a 

 lingering death by planting them upside down, owing 

 to the fact that, in C. Europceum at least, rootlets are 

 thrown out chiefly from the upper surface of the tuber- 

 like root-stock. I speak with feeling, having sacrificed 

 many cyclamens to this blunder in bygone years. To- 

 day 15th February I have been saving the lives of 

 scores of seedling C. Europceum, the offspring of a 

 colony thriving, as these plants readily do, among the 

 needles covering the bare ground under a fir tree. Each 

 of these seedlings consists of a tiny translucent globe, 

 with a few root fibres and a miniature leaf. All must 

 have perished had they been left crowded together on 

 their parent's corky bosom ; but, being pricked out on 



