32 MORE POT-POURRI 



way as is necessary for Hyacinths. If Tigridias are to 

 be raised from seed, the seeds are sown in March or 

 April in a hotbed and transplanted into the open 

 border in May. Here they may remain till the leaves 

 begin to wither in autumn, when the young bulbs should 

 be taken up and kept for planting the ensuing spring. 

 The splendid colours of this flower and the easiness of 

 its culture render it a general favourite. Its only 

 faults are that its flowers have no fragrance, and that 

 they are of very short duration, never lasting more than 

 a day. But they are produced in such abundance in 

 succession as to compensate for this defect. It is a 

 native of Mexico. In its native country its bulb is con- 

 sidered medicinal, and it was on this account that it was 

 sent to Europe by Hernandez, physician to Philip II of 

 Spain when he was employed by the Spanish Govern- 

 ment to examine into ' the virtues ' of the plants of the 

 New World. It was not introduced into England till 

 1796. It is sufficiently hardy to be left in the ground 

 all the winter, were it not on account of the danger to 

 which it would be exposed from damp. It is better to 

 take it up in September or October, tie it in bundles, 

 and hang it up in a dry place till spring. Why it is 

 always grown by gardeners in pots I do not know. In 

 his last edition, Mr. Robinson speaks very favourably of 

 growing it out of doors, and mentions particularly the 

 ivory white one with carmine-red base, which I saw 

 last year and thought very beautiful. What he says 

 about cultivation is exactly what I have quoted above 

 from Mrs. Loudon. In fact, treat them exactly as one 

 would the Gandavensis gladioli. Gerarde, in his Herbal, 

 speaks with delightful distrust of the very existence of 

 the Tigridia as described by travellers. After trying to 

 illustrate the plant from description, he goes on to say : 

 ' The second feigned picture hath beene taken of the 



