° §92 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
M. comosum (rough). Scapes 1 foot high. Leaves fleshy, pale. 
Flowers purplish olive, pitcher-shaped, forty to one hundred in a loose 
raceme; April. Plate 2764. The var. monstroswm is a much more attrac- 
tive plant; in this the flowers are all barren, and each is converted into a 
tuft of violet-blue slender filaments. This is a little later than the type 
in flowering. See Plate 2768. Then there is the var. plwmosa, the 
Feather Hyacinth, Plate 276c, in which the filaments are much longer, 
fantastically curled into intricate clusters, and of a more purplish tint. 
Both these monstrous forms are well worth growing. 
M. conicuM (conical). Seapes erect, 6 inches high. Flowers bright 
lilac-blue, fragrant, in an oblong-conical raceme; March. Introduced 
from Italy, but native home uncertain. 
M. Hetpreicuit (Heldreich’s). Scape 8 inches high. Flowers blue, 
similar in shape to those of IM. botryoides, but almost twice the size; 
raceme longer; April. Introduced from Greece, 1869. 
. MACROCARPUM (large - fruited). Seas fragrant, yellowish, 
mouth-lobes purple, in loose racemes ; 
M. MOSCHATUM (musky). Musk Hyacinth. Secapes 8 or 10 inches 
high. Flowers small, purplish, changing to a greenish yellow later, very 
fragrant; raceme dense, globose; April. 
M. NEGLECTUM (neglected). Starch Hyacinth. Scape 6 to 9 inches 
high. Flowers very dark blue, fragrant, in a dense raceme, thirty- to 
forty-flowered ; March. Native of the Mediterranean Region. 
M. PARADOXUM (paradoxical). Leaves three, round, erect. Scape 
5 or 6 inches high. Flowers blue-black, green within, faintly fragrant, 
in a dense conical raceme; April. Introduced from the Caucasus. 
M. RACEMOSUM (racemed). Scape 4 to 8 inches high. Flowers 
dark blue changing to purple, with white mouth-lobes, in dense racemes; - 
odour of Plums; April. 
joie In any garden soil Muscaris will do well; but if of a 
fairly rich and open character, they will rapidly increase 
without any care being bestowed upon them. They succeed in almost 
any situation: planted among grass, among rock-work, or as lines or 
masses in the flower-border, they will be equally at home. It is best 
to place them where they need not be disturbed; and if they are given 
a top-dressing of fresh soil before they appear a spring, they will be 
greatly benefited. They may be increased by means of their abundant 
seeds, or by taking up the bulbs in autumn, at intervals of two or three 
years, and separating the numerous offsets. They may be grown in pots, 
plunged outside in the summer and placed in a little heat in early 
spring, for the decoration of the conservatory. 
