OCTOBER 249 



Turning from the giants of the border to the dwarfs, 

 there is no more constant friend in autumn than the 

 Colchicum, known to young ladies (erroneously) as the 

 autumn crocus, and to boys (vulgar ones, of course) as 

 'naked ladies.' But the prince of colchicums is seldom 

 seen, though quite as easily grown as the common sorts. 

 This is C. speciosum twice or thrice the size of any 

 other, and most desirable for its beautiful chalice of 

 clear rose. Of the true autumn crocus, by far the best 

 is Crocus speciosus, which grows like any weed, and 

 sends up crowds of veined cups of violet hue, contrast- 

 ing admirably with the brilliant orange stigmata. 



The heaths are too well known to need mention, but 

 one of the family flowering at this season is not so 

 often seen as it deserves to be. This is the shrub 

 Clethra loaded with spikes of white May-scented bloom. 

 Of three or four species, Clethra arborea is the best, 

 and alnifolia next. 



A splendid addition has been made lately to yellow 

 autumn flowers in the shape of Rudbeckia maxima, a 

 really noble plant bearing large yellow solitary flowers, 

 with conical centres of maroon, on stems four feet high, 

 rising out of broad glaucous leaves. Another notable 

 yellow is a shrubby St. John's wort (Hypericum oppo- 

 sitifolium), rarer and far more choice than H. Patulum 

 which nurserymen are prone to substitute for it, and 

 unsurpassed even by the new hybrid H. Mozerianum, 

 though that is a fine thing too. Among blue flowers, 

 Veronica subsessilis is conspicuous in this month, with 

 solid spikes of deep lapis-lazuli colour. The vast variety 



