LIATRIS 



THE BULB BOOK 



LIATRIS 



red -skinned roots, white witliin. 

 Leaves densely tufted, linear, fleshy, 

 withering on the appearance of the 

 flowers. The latter, 3 to 4 ins. across, 

 appear in summer on one-flowered 

 scapes, jointed above the middle, 

 pink, with a nearly white centre. 

 Sepals six to eight, broadly ovate, 

 contorted, imbricate, finely veined 

 with red, persistent. 



L. Tweedlel. — ^A pretty little plant 

 forming tufts of bright green fleshy 

 spoon-shaped leaves with rather long 

 stoutish stalks. The' individual 

 flowers are about an inch across, and 

 of a pale salmon-pink colour with 

 yellow anthers varying to pale yellow 

 when fully expanded. They appear 

 in June and July, one to each stem. 

 {Bot. Mag. t. 7633.) 



The Lewisias should be planted in 

 a sunny nook or crevice in the 

 rockery, where the fleshy roots wUl 

 obtain plenty of moisture, and 

 because the flowers will not readily 

 develop in shady spots. After bloom- 

 ing, L. rediviva shrivels up into a 

 withered, string-like mass. In very 

 hot seasons the plants should be 

 watered every day. Propagation is 

 effected by seeds, or by dividing the 

 roots in spring, 



lilATBiS (derivation unknown), 

 Snakeeoot. Nat. Ord. Compositse. — 

 A genus containing about twenty 

 species of North American perennials 

 having tuberous root-stocks and 

 erect slender stems furnished with 

 narrow leaves and purplish or white 

 heads of flowers in spikes, racemes, 

 or panicles. 



The plants are nearly all perfectly 

 hardy, and when grown in bold masses 

 are effective in the flower-border, 

 owing to the dense masses of blossom 

 which are usually produced in August 

 and September and open from the 

 top downwards. Any ordinary good 



garden soil will suit the Liatrises, and 

 the stock may be increased in autumn 

 or spring by division of the tuberous 

 root-stocks, or by seeds sown in 

 autumn or spring. 



L. Chapmannl grows about 3 ft. 

 high, and produces violet - purple 

 spikes of bloom. Being a native of 

 Florida, it is safer to protect the 

 tubers in winter with bracken, litter, 

 etc., or to have them taken up and 

 stored in a frost-proof place until 

 spring, in the same way as Dahlias. 



L. elegans. — This purple-flowered 

 species grows from 2 to 4 ft. high, 

 the lower leaves being spoon-shaped, 

 the upper ones narrow and sometimes 

 spiny-tipped {Bot. Reg. t. 267). 



Ii. graxnlnlfolia. — This species has 

 narrow grass-like leaves on stems 

 about 3 ft. high, and loose spikes of 

 violet-purple flowers. The variety 

 pUosa has narrow hair-like bracts 

 to the flower-heads. (Bot. Mag. 

 t. 3829.) The variety duhia grows 

 about 6 ft. high, 2^ ft. of which are 

 bright deep shining lilac flowers. 

 (Gard. 1899, Ivi. 212.) 



L. odoratlssima {Trilisa odora- 

 tissima). — A pretty species 2 to 4 ft. 

 high, with bright purple flower-heads, 

 and leaves which emit a vanilla-like 

 odour when dried, or cut, or bruised. 



L. punctata. — This species has large 

 tuberous root - stocks, and leaf- 

 stems dotted with brown, the violet- 

 purple flowers being borne on the 

 tops of stems 2 to 3 ft. high. 



L. pyonostachya grows from 3 to 

 5 ft. high, and is known by its stifiish 

 leaves and pale purple flower-heads, 

 borne in dense spikes 12 to 18 ins. 

 long. 



This species is often treated as a 

 biennial, the seeds being sown one 

 year in cold frames in autumn, to 

 produce flowering plants the next. 



L. scariosa grows about 3 ft. high, 

 and has very long and narrow leaves 



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