616 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
bunches of fleshy roots, and long, narrow, sometimes three-sided, leaves. 
The flowers are showy, yellow or white, in dense racemes on tall scapes. 
The perianth-segments are free, equal and spreading; stamens alternately 
long and short. They chiefly inhabit the Mediterranean Region, one 
extending to Himalaya. The principal species are: Asphodelus albus, 
white, May (South Europe, 1596); and A. ereticus, yellow, July, with 
thread-like leaves (Crete, 1821). Planted in sandy loam of good depth, 
they succeed well in the shrubbery or herbaceous border. They are 
increased by dividing the roots in spring. 
ANTHERICUM (Greek, anthos, a flower, and herkos, a hedge: in 
allusion to height). A genus of about fifty species of perennials, with 
clustered fleshy roots, slender radical leaves, and white flowers, borne in 
racemes or panicles on tall scapes; natives of Europe, Africa, and America. 
Anthericum Liliago, the St. Bernard’s Lily, has a spreading perianth 
nearly 14 inch across; leaves slender, channeled (South Europe, 1596). 
A. ramosum has smaller flowers with narrower segments, and grass-like 
leaves (South Europe, 1570). The St. Bruno’s Lily, usually called A. 
Liliastrum, is more correctly Paradisia Liliastrum, constituting a 
genus by itself. Its flowers are more bell-shaped, 2 inches across, 
fragrant, and with a green spot on the tip of each white segment (South 
Europe, 1629). They are all summer bloomers, and are most suitable for 
growing in borders, or as pot-plants. The pots must be large (a foot across), 
and should be filled with a compost of fibrous loam, leaf-mould, and sand. 
From the commencement of growth until the withering of the flowers, 
water must be given liberally, afterwards sparingly. Propagation by 
seeds and division of the roots. Some of the species are stove plants. 
EICHHORNIAS 
Natural Order PONTEDERIACEH. Genus Lichhornia 
EIcHHORNIA (named in honour of J. A. F. Eichhorn, a Prussian botanist). 
A small genus of stove aquatics, with creeping rhizomes, roundish 
rhomboidal stalked leaves, and blue or violet flowers in a raceme. The 
flowers are funnel-shaped, the six unequal segments uniting at their 
base to form a tube. The stamens also are unequal, three being longer 
than the others. The ovary is three-celled. They are natives of South 
America and Tropical Africa. They are sometimes called Water 
Hyacinths. 
