GLADIOLUS OR CORN FLAG 557 
I. PATENS (spreading). Height, 1 foot. Flowers pink, somewhat 
bell-shaped, the segments spreading; April. Introduced 1779. 
I. sPECIOSA (showy). Height, 6 inches. Flowers dark red, bell- 
shaped; May and June. Introduced 1778. 
I. VIRIDIFLORA (green-flowered). Height, 1 foot. Flowers green, 
with blue centre; May and June. Introduced 1780. 
In the most southern portions of England, and in 
sheltered spots, Jvvas are hardy, and may be grown outside. 
Given a well-drained, warm, sunny border in a sheltered position, in many 
other parts they may be grown successfully, if during the winter they 
are protected from frost by piling fern or cocoanut-fibre thickly above 
them. The bulbs should be planted in October, at a depth of 4 or 6 
inches, and the soil should be light and sandy. Except in warm sheltered 
gardens, it is best to lift the bulbs after they have flowered, and ripen 
them by exposure to air and sunshine. For pot-culture the soil should 
be a mixture of leaf-mould and sandy loam. A 5-inch pot is the most 
suitable size, and in this from eight to twelve bulbs may be placed, with 
the crowns an inch below the surface. Stand on or plunge in ashes in 
a cool frame, and merely keep the soil from drying until the flower- 
spikes appear. Then give more water, and remove the plants to a cool 
greenhouse or conservatory where they will get abundant light and air. 
After flowering, ripen gradually by placing them outside and watering 
moderately till the leaves have died away; then keep soil dry and store 
away till October, when they should be repotted. Propagation is effected 
by separating the bulbous offsets when large enough, or by sowing seeds 
in sandy soil about September, germinating them in a cool frame. The 
seedlings are not of rapid growth, and they will not be fit for removal 
for a year, when they may be potted singly, but they will not flower 
until three or four years old. 
ption of Ixia maculata, natural size. The short spike figured 
Plate 25% at the left of the plate is the var. ochroleuca. 
Cultivation. 
GLADIOLUS OR CORN FLAG 
Natural Order IRIpE&. Genus Gladiolus 
GLADIOLUS (Latin, a dagger or sedge: in allusion to shape of leaves). A 
genus of about one hundred and thirty species of perennial herbs with 
corms, and linear or sword-shaped leaves. The flowers are borne in a 
two-rowed spike on a tall scape, and consist of a six-parted, somewhat 
Iv.—16 
