LEUCOJUM 



THE BULB BOOK 



LEUCOJUM 



LEUCOJUM (leuJcos, white J ion, a end of May. (Bot. Mag. t. 1210; 



violet; referring to the colour and 

 fragrance of the Howers), Snowplake. 

 Nat. Ord. Amaryllidete. — A genus 

 containing nine species of ornamental 

 herbs having tunicated bulbs, narrow 

 strap-shaped leaves, and large broadly 

 bell-shaped, snowdrop-like blossoms. 



The Snowflakes flourish in ordinary 

 garden soil of a rich and sandy nature, 

 and once planted may be left to look 

 after themselves. To be effective they 

 should be massed in bold clumps in 

 the rockery, or border, or between 

 deciduous shrubs. They are readily 

 increased by offsets, which should be 

 detached after the leaves have 

 withered. The following species are 

 good garden plants : — 



L. aestlvum. — This free - growing 

 species, popularly known as the 

 " Summer Snowflake," is widely dis- 



FiG. 223. — Leucojum cBstivum, bulb. (J.) 



tributed over Central and S. Europe 

 from Britain and France to the 

 Crimea, being found in wet meadowa 

 and osier beds in the south-eastern 

 parts of England. The egg-shaped 

 bulbs are 1 to 1|^ ins. through, and 

 give rise to bluntly strap-shaped 

 leaves 12 to 18 ins. long. The droop- 

 ing pure white flowers, about 1 in. 

 long, are tipped with green, and 

 appear from the end of AprU to the 



Sed. Lil. t. 135.) 



L. autumnale {Acts autumnalis). — 

 This species is found wild from 

 Portugal and Morocco to the Ionian 

 Islands. The roundish bulbs are 

 only about J in. thick, and the slender 

 thread-like leaves are usually pro- 

 duced after the flowers have withered 

 in August and September. The 

 blossoms are white tinted with pink, 

 the segments being five- to seven- 

 veined. (Bot. Mag. t. 960.) The 

 variety cephalonica has a two-valved 

 spathe instead of a single linear one ; 

 and the variety pvlchellum produces 

 its white pendulous flowers at the 

 same time as the leaves. Tender. 



L. hyemale (Acis hiemalis). — A ■ 

 native of S. France, with small round 

 bulbs and narrow leaves about 1 ft. 

 long at the same time as the flowers. 

 These are white tinged with green 

 outside, and appear in April, and not 

 in winter as the name hyemale would 

 indicate. {Bot. Mag. t. 6711.) 



L. longifollum {Acis longifolia). — 

 This grows wild at an altitude of 

 4500 to 6000 ft., on the Corsican 

 Mountains. It has small brown- 

 coated bulbs, very slender, flaccid 

 thread-like leaves 6 to 12 ins. long, 

 and small white flowers j to ^ in. 

 long in April and May. 



L. pulchellum {L. Hernandezi). — 

 A native of Sardinia and the Balearic 

 Isles, closely related to L. cestivum, 

 from which it differs chiefly in having 

 narrower leaves and smaller flowers 

 somewhat later in the season. Fig. 

 224. 



L. roseum {Acis rosea).- A small- 

 bulbed Corsican plant with thread- 

 like leaves after the flowers, and rosy- 

 red blossoms J in. long, in September 

 and October {Sw. Brit. Fl. Gard. 

 t. 297). 



L. trichophyllum {Acis tricho- 

 phylla). — A pretty little plant from 



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