GLOEIOSA 



THE BULB BOOK 



GLOEIOSA 



G. atrosangulnea {O. coccinea). — An 

 elegant Bornean plant about 1 to Ij 

 ft. high, with clusters of gracefully 

 arching stems and deep glossy green, 

 ovate lance - shaped leaves. The 

 flowers, with scarlet bracts, are 

 borne in dense racemes, and appear 

 at all seasons of the year. (Bot. 

 Mag. t. 6626.) 



G-. Schomburgki. — A native of 

 Siam, 6 to 12 ins. high, with elliptic 

 ovate or lance-shaped leaves pointed 

 at the tips. The golden - yellow 

 flowers with a bright orange-red base 

 to the lower segment, appear in 

 August in drooping panicles. (Bot. 

 Mag. t. 6298.) 



G. sessiliflora. — This is the oldest 

 species in cultivation, having been 

 introduced from the East Indies 

 (Pegu) in 1807. It grows about 18 

 ins. high, and has lance - shaped 

 pointed leaves, and yellow flowers 

 produced in August in whorled 

 spikes. (Bot. Mag. t. 1428.) 



GliORlOSA (gloriosus, glorious ; re- 

 ferring to the beauty of the flowers). 

 Nat. Ord. Liliacese. — A genus con- 

 taining about half a dozen species 

 of tuberous-rooted herbaceous plants 

 having climbing or tufted stems 

 sparingly furnished with alternate, 

 opposite, or ternately verticillate, 

 sessile leaves, oblong lance-shaped, 

 and remarkable for having the tips 

 produced into a spirally twisted 

 tendril. The flowers are borne 

 singly in the axils of the upper 

 leaves. The perianth consists of six 

 similar narrow, oblong, lance-shaped, 

 wavy segments, at first spreading, 

 but afterwards sharply bent back, 

 and leaving the six hypogynous 

 stamens, and the green superior 

 ovary with its long-styled, three-cleft 

 stigma bent at right angles, well 

 exposed to view. 



These remarkable-looking plants 



254 



are well worth growing in a warm 

 greenhouse or at the cool end of a 

 stove house. They flourish in a 

 compost of turfy loam and fibrous 

 peat to which a little well-decayed 

 cow-manure, or a little basic slag or 

 fine bone-meal has been added. The 

 long, fleshy, tuberous roots are best 

 potte'd up in spring, about March, 

 when the new growths begin to 

 appear, and may be covered with 

 about 2 ins. of soil. Well-drained 

 pots of course should be used, and a 

 few tubers may be placed in a large 

 pot, to secure a finer effect than when 

 one is grown in a small pot. During 

 growth water should be given copi- 

 ously, and the syringe should be used 

 in the morning and afternoon. When 

 the flexuous stems are about a foot 

 long, it will be necessary to put sticks 

 to them, or to fasten them to a wire 

 trellis over which they may be trained. 

 Gloriosas are also useful plants for 

 furnishing the sides and rafters of a 

 warm greenhouse or stove house, and 

 make an ornamental display, usually 

 during July and August, or perhaps 

 somewhat earlier. As the stems and 

 leaves die down naturally in the 

 autumn — a fact which should be 

 carefully noted — ^water is gradually 

 withheld, and ultimately the tubers 

 alone are left mature and dormant 

 during the winter months. In this 

 state they require no water, and the 

 pots should be turned over on the 

 sides to avoid the dripping or drain- 

 ing from the benches ; or they should 

 be placed on shelves near the glass. 

 In spring, the old tubers after show- 

 ing signs of growth should be shaken 

 out of the old soil, and repotted into 

 fresh compost and treated as above 

 advised. The best temperature at 

 this period is about 55° to 65° F. 

 at night, and 5° or 10° more by 

 day. 

 Gloriosas are easily propagated in 



