XII. 



THE FRITTELARIA, FERRARIA, ALLIUM, ORNITHOGALUM. 

 THE FRITTELARIA. 



ARLY in the spring, the dark 

 11^,,^ blunt shoots of the crown im- 

 perial (jP. imperialis), pushing 

 from the ground, give promise 

 of the crown of showy blos- 

 soms which a few weeks will develop. And, indeed, 

 in few flowers is the growth more rapid. Each sunny- 

 day the plant grows apace, and soon unfolds its crown 

 of flowers, surmounted by the tuft of green foliage. 

 The crown imperial, which was the most ornamenta 

 of the frittclarias, has been separated from the genus, 

 and now forms a new family called Fetilium, the species 



being P. imperiale; but, as it is popularly classed with 



170 



