TESTUDINARIA 



THE BULB BOOK 



THLADIANTHA 



from 6 to 9 ins. deep in a compost of 

 well - drained sandy peat and leaf- 

 mould. In very wet or severe 

 winters, the dormant corms should 

 be protected with a little litter or 

 bracken, or old lights. When grown 

 in pots, the plants are charming for 

 cool greenhouse decoration, but the 

 corms need not be buried more than 

 2 or 3 ins. in the soil. During 

 vigorous growth plenty of water may 

 be given, but the supply should be 

 gradually diminished as the autumn 

 approaches, and the plants show signs 

 of resting. The plants are increased 

 by offsets at planting time, or by 

 seeds sown in pots under glass when 

 thoroughly ripe. 



TESTUDINARIA (testudo, a tor- 

 toise, the markings on the hard 

 tuber resembling those on the shell 

 of a tortoise). Nat. Ord. Dios- 

 coreacese. — The best known of the 

 two species in this genus is — 



T. elephantipes {Tamus elephan- 

 tipes). — A singular - looking South 

 African plant popularly known as 

 "Elephant's Foot," Hottentot Bread,'' 

 and " Tortoise Plant." It has a large 

 woody tuberous root-stock, sometimes 

 as much as a yard in diameter, 

 marked very much like a tortoise's 

 body, and giving rise to slender 

 climbing branching stems, sometimes 

 30 to 40 ft. long, and furnished with 

 broadly heart-shaped or kidney- 

 shaped leaves with netted veins. 

 The greenish-yeUow flowers are 

 small and bell-shaped, the staminate 

 (male), and pistillate (female), being 

 borne on separate plants. (Bot. 

 Beg. t. 921 ; Bot. Mag. t. 1347.) 



This extraordinary plant is more 

 of a vegetable curiosity than any- 

 thing else in greenhouses. It may 

 be seen growing in the Succulent 

 House at Kew, flourishing in a com- 

 post of sandy loam and mortar 



rubble, requiring just enough heat 

 in winter to keep the frost away 

 from it. When seeds can be pro- 

 cured, plants may be easily raised 

 from them, by sowing in sandy loam 

 and leaf-soil in a temperature of 

 60° to 65° F. When the young 

 plants are well established, with 

 stems 6 to 9 ins. high, they may be 

 potted up separately in small pots 

 in a similar compost, and grown on 

 from year to year. 



THALICTRUM (thallo, to grow 

 green ; in reference to the colour of 

 the young shoots). Meadow Eue. 

 Nat. Ord. Eanunculaceae. — Of the 

 fifty species in this genus, there are 

 a few with tuberous root-stocks. 



T. anemonoides (Anemone thalic- 

 troides). — A pretty North American 

 hardy perennial about 6 ins. high, 

 with clusters of thickened tuberous 

 roots and twice- or thrice-ternate 

 leaves, having long-stalked three- 

 lobed leaflets. The white flowers, 

 with protruding yellow stamens, 

 appear in April and May. (Bot. 

 Mag. t. 866.) The variety ./?o?'e pleno 

 has small double floAvers. 



T. tuberosum. — A Spanish Meadow 

 Rue, about 12 ins. high, with knotty 

 root-stocks, twice- or thrice-pinnate 

 leaves, and corymbs of white flowers 

 in June. 



These two species flourish in 

 partial shade in a nook in the rock- 

 garden, and like a moist peaty soil. 

 They may be increased by careful 

 division of the root-stocks in early 

 autumn, or by seeds. The latter 

 method is often considered best, as 

 the root-stocks, if divided roughly, 

 often take a long time to recover. 



THliAJDIANTHA (thladias, com- 

 pressed; anthos, a flower— the first 

 description of the plant is said to 

 have been from a dried specimen). 



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