326 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II. 



SCILLA ■BXS'SASS— Bluebell. 



A WELL-KNOWN and much admired native plant, abounding in 

 almost every wood and copse ; the flowers always arranged 

 in a gracefully drooping fashion on one side of the stem. The 

 Bluebell is so very common that I should not have mentioned it 

 here but for the sake of its several beautiful varieties, which ar6 

 not so much known as they deserve to be, although fitted to be 

 great ornaments of the early summer garden. I particularly 

 allude to the white variety, S. nutans alba; the rose-coloured one, 

 .y. nutans rosea; the pale blue, S. nutans ccerulea, and a pleasing 

 " French white " variety, which is not dignified by a Latin name. 

 These are all highly suitable for planting here and there in tufts 

 along the margins of shrubberies, near rockwork, for borders, 

 the spring garden, and for naturalisation in woods, among the 

 common blue kind. 



SCILLA 'SK1'Ulih..-^Spreading Squill. 



This is rather closely allied to the Bluebell, with flowers of a 

 pleasing violet-blue, not sweet, like those of that species, nor 

 arranged on one side, but larger, and more open, with narrow 

 bracts. It is easy of culture on almost any soil ; blooms late in 

 spring, and is suitable for the same purposes as the varieties 

 of- the Bluebell. A. native of France and Southern Europe 

 generally. 



SCILLA 'B'EB.TmANA..— Pyramidal Squill. 



The Peruvian Squill, which, however, is not a native of Peru, is 

 a very noble plant where it thrives, and it does so perfectly in 

 many mild parts of these islands, though it suffers on cold soils. 

 The flowers are of a fine blue, very numerous, arranged in a 

 superb, regular, umbel-like pyramid, which lengthens during the 

 flowering period. The white stamens contrast charmingly with 

 the blue of the flowers., In all but the warmest parts of the 

 country, this fine plant should have a somewhat elevated, warm, 

 and sheltered position, a deep, light, and well-drained soil, and the 

 large pear-shaped bulbs should be planted six inches under the 

 surface, which will better enable them to witlistand the cold. 

 A native of Southern Europe and^^orth Africa, grows from six 

 to eighteen inches high, flowers in May and June, and deserves 



