ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 243 



which is really a hardy variety and thrives well with 

 me. Both the bulb and the leaves are larger than in 

 G. latif alius, and the flower is of the very first quality. 

 Mr Baker thinks it is probably a hybrid between G. 

 latifolius and G. Caucasicus, as it has some of the 

 features of both species. This variety is a great favourite 

 both with Mr Allen and everyone who has cultivated 

 it, as it is a good grower, and very handsome when in 

 flower. G. Fosteri was introduced from Amasia, in 

 Asia Minor, by Sir Michael Foster, Cambridge Univer- 

 sity, and was named out of compliment to him by 

 Mr Baker, to whom specimens were sent in 1889. Mr 

 Allen speaks of it in these terms — " It first bloomed 

 with me in 1891, and I must confess it did not come 

 up to my expectations ; but I think it is scarcely fair 

 to pass judgment on it before it has been grown in 

 our gardens for some four or five years, so as to develop 

 its true character. The collected bulbs which were 

 planted in January 1890 had almost lost their vitality, 

 and will require several years to recover their strength, 

 I understand that in favoured spots of their native 

 habitat the bulbs of G. Fosteri are as large as a good 

 sized Narcissus. This seems to be the most sportive 

 of all the Galanthi as to size, form, and markings of 

 the flowers. From the comparatively few bulbs I have 

 already bloomed, I have had flowers with petals of 

 every imaginable shape, some showing points of great 

 beauty, and others quite the reverse. We must be 

 patient, and weed out unsparingly, and then in a few 

 years we shall be proud of G. Fosteri." The markings 

 on the inner petals are very similar to G. Elwesei, but 

 the foliage is quite difierent, being broad and somewhat 

 blunt, and the shape and colour much like that of Scilla 

 Siberica. Mr Max Leichtlin thinks so highly of it 

 that he pronounces it the King of snowdrops. This 

 plant seems to me to be a hybrid between G. Elwesei 

 and G. latifolius, although I am told that G. Elwesei is 



