LUTHER BURBANK 



borne in profusion, and their attractiveness is often 

 enhanced by their fragrance. 



The crinums were originally residents of the 

 tropics, being indigenous to various parts of South 

 America, the southern United States. There are 

 several species that are hardy in California. In 

 some cases they will withstand freezing, so that 

 even if the leaves are destroyed by the frost the 

 new growth will put forth in the spring, and they 

 will bloom as abundantly as if they had been care- 

 fully housed over winter. 



Like most other bulbous plants they thrive best 

 in sandy soil. 



Some of the crinums are evergreen under ordi- 

 nary temperature, others are deciduous like most 

 of their relatives of the amaryllis tribe. 



The chief objection to the crinums for house 

 culture is the enormous size of the bulb, and the 

 tendency to produce a superabundance of foliage 

 out of proportion to the number of flowers; al- 

 though this criticism does not apply to all of them. 



Ten or twelve years ago I had probably twenty 

 species of crinums, some of them having been 

 brought from the tropics. My object was to com- 

 bine the good qualities of the tropical and sub- 

 tropical species with those of the hardy ones that 

 had become acclimated in California. No diffi- 

 culty was experienced in crossing the various spc- 



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