PREESIA 



609 



oblon ol o o c e itely 

 1 neir oblo g era n te 

 Hook t All e 1 o 1 B mg 



iroballecour eofe olut on an 1 legenent on Freesias 

 s I ctu el n 0. ^ 1 • and A 1 14 11 J In the pur- 

 t of e ther deil the jellow spots have been con- 

 s iered object onal 1p T1 e o g -xl stock seen to have 

 at a e of V olet color "w I 1 et n es how t elf in 



u ten t so 1 p or 1 ome- 



FKESSIA (the author of this genus never explained 

 the name). JridAcea:. Freesias (Fig. 8«9) are amongst 

 the dozen most popular bulbous plants for fall planting 

 and winter blooming, t 



sus, which can be grown in pure water, they flourish 

 ' " ■-. • than most other 



bulbs. They have tubular fls., white or pale yellow, 

 borne in a pretty fashion that makes them amongst 

 the most highly individualized of all garden plants. 

 ^ I jointed axis 



right angles to 

 thr \ 111 i.'iil |i, .liui.'l.'. ; Thu liiii.ii is an accentuation of 

 tli;it of Ti iii.nia. lHuii \vliiili ir.-fsiais essentially dis- 

 tiuKiaabea l/y thu ;; out »o'«-) Of the splendid and 

 almost numberless bulbs from the Cape of Good Hope 

 (including the iris, araaryllis, and lily families) Free- 

 sias are, next to gladiolus, the most popular, though 

 not so variable as Ixias. This popularity is a growth 

 of the last quarter century or less, though Freesias have 

 been in cultivation since 1816 or earlier. Conservative 

 botanists now suppose that the Freesias are all origi- 

 nally of one stock, which species should be called F. 

 refrncia. The extremes of variation in form are shown 

 in Figs. 8(;9 and 870, from the long and slendc-r tube of 

 var. nihil to tlie short and broader tube of var. Jyielit- 

 liiiii. One of the earliest pictures of the plant is tliat in 

 the Botanical Register for 1816 (Plate 135, as Tritmia 

 refrdcta), a part of which is reproduced in Fig. 870 to 

 show the great ii-regularity of the corolla lobes at that 

 early period, and the straggling habit of the fls., some 

 pointing down and others up. The colors in the plate 

 are unattractive, almost repulsive, being a sickly green 

 throughout, with a strong orange color on the tips of the 

 3 lower lobes. The garden evqlution of the Freesias has 

 proceeded along two lines. The greatest effort has been 

 expended to produce a pure white flower, and in the best 

 strains the white color is mostly associated with a 

 long and slender tube. The ideal of a yellow flower is 

 less popular, and is mostly associated with the shorter 

 and broader tube. In both cases the forms with strag- 

 gling inflorescence and irregular corolla lobes have 

 been relentlessly suppressed. One may easily see how 

 strongly 2-lipped and gaping were the flowers of 1816, 

 and how strongly the tube was bulged upon one side. 

 Any tendencies toward such forms in modern bulbs are 

 signs of degeneration or carelessness somewhere. In 

 pedigree plants the lobes are beautifully rounded and 

 the flowers symmetrical. Perhaps the most charming 

 picture of the two prevailing ideals is Plate 347 of the 

 Garden, vol. 22, 1882. One of the earliest pictures of 

 the short- and broad-tubed yellow type is that in L.B.C. 

 19:1820, published in 1832 as Tritbnia odorcLta. The 



Freesias in Gng. 7:196 : 

 "As a florist's flower the 

 white Pn 



valuable, the whiter the 

 better. The original type 

 of Freesia refrin-ta evi- 

 dently had a strong ten- 

 dency toward the yellow 

 color; this keeps turning 

 up with great persistence in F. refracia alba. There is 

 always a certain per cent of yellow mixture, even in the 

 finest strains. Sometimes it is only 2-3 per cent; some- 

 times it is 50 per cent; usually it runs about 5-10 per 

 cent. The causes of this are not certain. A Californian 

 makes a quasi admission of the allegation that Ameri- 

 can grown stock shows more yellow than the European 

 grown, and suggests that the strong sunlight of his 

 state accounts for the tendency toward yellow fls. Ex- 

 periments by V. A. Clark show that the yellow color is 

 formed under the direct oxidizing influence of sunlight. 

 In general it seems that the greater amount of yellow is 

 correlated with stronger growth. Plants which grow 

 very vigorously show darker green leaves and more of 

 the peculiar sulfur color. White flowers are often, like 

 white leaves, a sign of weakness in the plant. This 

 makes it difficult to keep a stock of Freesias vigorous 

 and at the same time selected to a high degree of purity 

 as regards the flowers." 



Freesias are much forced by florists, chiefly for cut- 

 flowers at Christmas. If cut when only 2 fls. are out, 

 the rest will open. They can be had in flower from 

 Christmas until June by successional plantings from 

 Aug. to Feb. For the best results the largest and high- 

 est priced bulbs should be planted as early as Aug. One 

 of th i strong points of Freesias, however, is that plant- 

 ing may be delayed longer than with many other bulbs. 

 Bulbs may be dried off gradually in the pots and kept 

 dry during summer. Repot; the larger bulbs will bloom, 

 but will not give so good results as medium size imported 

 bulbs not previously forced. 



