212 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
E. varieg4ta.—Variegated Spurge.—A most elegant 
species; a native of Missouri and Arkansas Territory ; 
an annual much cultivated now in gardens, and highly 
esteemed ; flowering late in autumn, and remarkable for 
its abundant variegated bracts or floral leaves. Leaves 
oval entire; wavy, edged with white; capsules smooth ; 
stems hairy. The seed must be sown early in April; it 
is some time in vegetating. 
FRITILLARY,—Fritrary. 
(From Fritillus, the Latin for dice-boz, probably in allusion to the shape of the 
flowers.] 
A genus with showy and singular looking flowers. The 
plants all require a deep loamy soil, and are readily in- 
creased by offsets or by seeds. They grow readily in the 
shade of trees, and do not require to be taken up oftener 
than once in three years. 
Friiillaria imperidlis—Crown Imperial.—aA native of 
Persia. There are many varieties; all handsome, varying 
if color; viz.: bright yellow, scarlet, orange-scarlet, 
double red, double yellow, gold-striped-leaved, silver-strip- 
ed-leaved, etc. This species is less esteemed than its 
beauty merits, on account of its strong, and, to some, its 
disagreeable scent. It flowers in April; the bulb throws 
up a strong, vigorous stem, three or four feet high, pro- 
ducing near the top a crown of beautiful, drooping, bell- 
shaped flowers, making a very conspicuous object at a 
season when but few flowers grace the garden. Above 
the crown of flowers the stem terminates in a tuft of its 
glossy green foliage. The nectaries are very curious; each 
cell, six in number, contains a large drop, which looks like 
a brilliant pearl. When the flower decays, the seed-vessels 
take a position the reverse of that of the flower, and stand 
