NIGELLA 



of appearance wanting to the double forms. Too often, double 

 flowers show simply a mass of petalage which is poor compensa- 

 tion for the individuaUty which is obliterated. A faint delicate 

 perfume of anise lingers about the flower. 



The genus Nigella is credited in the books with sixteen species, 

 all Eurppean or Asiatic, of which three have been cultivated. Be- 

 sides our own Love-in-a-mist, there 

 is in Europe the Spanish Nigella, 

 Nigella hispdnia, similar to it 

 though larger and a somewhat 

 coarser plant; both have been in 

 English gardens over three hun- 

 dred years. The third species is 

 Nigella satlva, which had a career 

 as a prized inmate of the herb gar- 

 dens of the sixteenth century. It 

 was brought into England from 

 Egypt in 1548, its seeds being in 

 request as a spice or seasoning. 

 This species seems to have been 

 cultivated in the East for ages; 

 indeed, the plant has been iden- 

 tified as the "fitches," whose seeds 

 are "beaten out with a staff," as stated in Isaiah xxviii. The 

 Egyptian fellaheen still cultivate the plant for the sake of these 

 seeds, which they scatter over their bread before baking, using 

 them as caraway and poppy seeds are used in Europe. 



The gardener's advice is that the seed should be sown in the 

 open border, in good soil, any time after the middle of March, and 

 the seedlings thinned to a distance of about eight inches. They 

 seldom do well if transplanted. 



Nigella. Nigella damascena 



187 



