368 FLORA DOMJESTICA. 



TUBEROSE. 



POLIANTHES. 



NARCISSE^l. HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Polianthes is from the Greek, and signifies City-flower. French, la 

 tubereuse ; jacinthe des Indes [Indian hyacinth]. Italian, tuberose ; 

 tubero Indiano [Indian bulb]. 



THE Tuberose grows naturally in India, whence it was 

 first brought to Europe. In the warmer parts of the 

 European continent it thrives as well as in its native soil. 

 In Italy, Sicily, and Spain, the roots thrive and propagate 

 without care where they are once planted. The Genoese 

 cultivate it, and send the roots annually to England, Hol- 

 land, and Germany, where the climate is less congenial 

 to it. 



This plant has long been cultivated in English gardens 

 for its extraordinary beauty and fragrance. 



There are several varieties; one with double flowers, 

 " which was obtained from the seed by Monsieur Le Cour, 

 of Leyden in Holland, who for many years was so tena- 

 cious of the roots, even after he had propagated them in 

 such plenty as to have more than he could plant, that he 

 caused them to be cut in pieces, to have the vanity of 

 boasting that he was the only person in Europe who pos- 

 sessed this flower ; but of late years the roots have been 

 spread into many parts*." 



Those roots are the best which are the largest and 

 plumpest, provided they are sound and firm, and the fewer 

 offsets they have, the stronger they will flower. The under 

 part of the roots should be particularly examined, because 

 it is there that they first decay. Before the roots are 



See Miller. 



