BULBOUS PLAJ^fTS. 



363 



seeds, for whUe those of AmaryUis are few in the pod 

 and large and fleshy, those of Hippeastrum are nume' 

 i-ous, membranous, and black. The growth and flower 

 characters are much the same in both genera ; but 

 their geographical distribution is quite distinct, for 

 while the Belladonna lily is exclusively a native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, aU the Hippeastrums are 

 natives of tropical and sub-tropical South America 

 and the "West Indies. 



As the older and more familiar name, Amaryllis, will 

 no doubt always be adhered to in gardens, we will 

 after the foregoing explanation, proceed to consider 

 them as such. 



The Amaryllises are surpassed by no other bulbs" 

 as regards their value as decorative plants, their 

 flowers being among the largest in the whole range 

 of bulbs, and for brilliancy of colour they are unri- 

 valled. They are, therefore, highly important garden 

 plants, and are particularly valuable on account of 

 flowering most abundantly in early spring. They 

 are all characterised as having tunicated or coated 

 bulbs, deciduous foliage, except in one species (A. re- 

 ticulata), and large showy flowers, produced in umbels 

 before or with the foliage. 



The garden history of the AmaryUis is peculiarly 

 interesting. Some of the species were cultivated 

 upwards of a century ago, and fifty years ago all or 

 nearly all of the typical wild species were in gardens, 

 but now the more beautiful modem hybrids have 

 almost entirely supplanted them. 



The AmaryUises, on account of their showy flowers, 

 have always been favourites in gardens, and their 

 strong tendency to hybridise was taten advantage of 

 as soon as they were introduced, consequently hybrid 

 varieties have always been common ; but the material 

 with which the hybridiser had to work was com- 

 paratively limited. There were only about a dozen 

 species, and these did not possess much diversity of 

 form or colour, consequently the old hybrid varieties 

 resembled each other greatly. With the introduc- 

 tion about twenty years ago of two or three new 

 species from South America, a fresh stimulus was 

 given to Amaryllis hybridising. The most important 

 of the new discoveries was A. LeopoMii, named in 

 honour of the King of the Belgians. This species 

 naturally possesses large and handsomely-formed 

 flowers, with whitish sepals, tipped with crimson. 

 In this species the hybridist possessed fine form and 

 large size of the flower, and it only needed brilliant 

 colours infused into it to make it a perfect AmaryUis. 

 So, by intercrossing it with the finest of the older 

 hybrids, quite a distinct race was produced, eclipsing 

 aU others produced previously. 



A. pardina, introduced about the same time, pos- 

 sesses large flowers, copiously spotted with red. 

 Before the introduction of these species, the hybrids, 



though briUiant in colour, lacked size and form. 

 Even now the range of colour is somewhat limited, 

 for among the hundreds of varieties that exist the 

 colours only extend from white, through pinks, to 

 deep crimson and vivid scarlets. 



The criterion of a first-rate variety of AmaryUis 

 nowadays is a stout, erect flower-stem, carrying two 

 or more blooms. These should measure from six 

 to nine inches across, with the sepals and petals of 

 thick substance, so as to be firm enough to hold 

 themselves out weU, and slightly reflex at the tips. 

 They must always be broad enough to quite overlap 

 each other, and the nearei: they approach a circular 

 outline the more perfect the flower is considered 

 to be. In the original species of Amaij'Uis the 

 lowermost sepal of the flower is nearly always much 

 narrower than the rest. 



Among the large numbers of hybrids now existing 

 several distinct races are discernible, according to 

 the species from which they have originated. There 

 are about twenty species from which the hybrids 

 have been produced, the chief being the foUowing :— 

 A. aulica, ambigua, barbatum, bulbulosum, brevijlorum, 

 equestris,Zeopoldii,miniata,pardina,psittacina,Seffmce, 

 reticulata, rutila, solandriflora, alylosa, and mttata. 

 The few groups under which the present hybrids may 

 be classed are — Aulica section, in which the flowers 

 are large, more or less funnel-shaped, and generaUy 

 a deep crimson. Aeramannii section, with smaUish 

 flowers characterised by an intensely deep crimson. 

 Leopoldii section, in which the flowers partake more 

 or less of the original species, and always with large 

 open (not tubular) flowers. Fm-dina section, in which 

 the flowers show indications of the original spotting 

 of the flowers ; and the Vittata section, which in- 

 cludes aU those sorts having flowers rather smaU 

 arid usuaUy funnel-shaped, and generaUy more than 

 usually numerous in the umbels. 



Lastly, there is a race distinct from aU the fore- 

 going, which has sprung fi-om A. reticulata, the ever- 

 green species, a native of BrazU. This species Uke- 

 wise differs fi-om the rest in having flowers of a 

 delicate pink, and beautifuUy netted with deeper- 

 coloured veins, hence the name reticulata. In its 

 original state, however, it is not an easy plant to 

 grow and flower successfully, but by crossing it with 

 sorts of a deciduous nature, this shy-flowering ten- 

 dency has been overcome ; indeed, all the varieties of 

 the race are almost perpetual flowerers, and the fact 

 that they flower in mid-winter, as well as at mid- 

 summer, greatly increases their value. There are now 

 about half a dozen hybrids having A. reticulata for 

 one of their parents, and all possess the characteristic 

 white stripe down the middle of each leaf, more or 

 less conspicuous. Among the most beautiful of these 

 hybrids are those named Autumn Beautt/, which 



