838 



I VEST A 



IXIA 



IVfiSIA. All referred to PoteufiUa. 



IVY, The common or English Iyj is Hedera. Boston 

 l.^AmpeJopsis tricKspidata. German I.— Climbing 

 iSoiecio and Ileniiaria glabra. Ground l.^Nepeta 

 Olechoma. Kenilvrorthl. =Ll)iaria Cijmbalnria . Poison 

 J.—Mhus, U. Toxicodendron. Some authors think that 

 two species of Rhus are confused, H. radietins being 

 the common Poison Ivy of the North, and M. Toxico- 

 dendron being a shrub of the South. 



IXIA (Greek, hird lime; said to refer to the juice). 

 Jriddcca'. Ixias are delightful tender bulbs originally 

 from the Cape of (rood Hope, with attractive grass-like 

 foliage and spikes of flowers borne in early spring, ex- 

 hibiting an exceptionally wide range of colors. They 

 grow about 1 .'^ ft. high on the average, with an un- 

 branched stem, a spike 3-8 in. long, containing G-12 fls. 

 each lK-2 in. or more across. The tls. have a very 

 slender tube usually about >2 iu. long, and G segments. 

 The following colors are all well marked in Ixia: white, 

 yellow in at least 'A shades, ornnge, lilac, rose, pink, 

 crimson, light and dark purple, ruby red, pale blue, and 

 even green. Perhaps the 

 onh important colors lack- 

 ing are sky-blue and red in 

 the bright shades of scarlet 

 iud \ermilion. The flowers 

 m iy be coucolorous (all of 

 one color) or these same 

 shades may be com- 

 bined with an eye. 

 Most of our cultivated 

 forms seem to have an 

 eye of brown, purple 

 or almost black, but 

 there have been kinds 

 with a white, blue or 

 green eye. Occasion- 

 ally there is a ring of 

 brown color above the 

 1 le. Add to this that the 

 ks of the segments may 

 \\ be more or less suffused 

 n with various colors(usualiy, 

 ij however, that of the eye) 

 ^r and the interesting possibili- 

 ties of Ixias in color combi- 

 nations can be imagined. 

 Sooner or later all good 

 gardeners yield to the fascination 

 uf bulbous plants, and whoever 

 as not yet succeeded in growing 

 Ixias has something to live for. 



Ixias number their cultivated 

 varieties by the hundreds. Next 

 to Crocuses and Ereesias they 

 have no rivals in point of popu- 

 larity among spring -blooming 

 bulbs of the important Iris fam- 

 ■'', ily. which rejoices in the posses- 

 sion of such sydendid summer- 

 blooming bulbs as Iris, Gladiolus and Montbretia. Cul- 

 turally they belong to the same class witli Babiana and 

 Sparaxis, which are also desirable and distinct in gen- 

 eral appearance and coloring, but are outstripped by 

 Ixias in popularity and in number of varieties. Botani- 

 cally, these three geiaera belong to the Ixia tribe, in 

 which the tls. are spicate, not fugitive and never more 

 than one to a spathe. The stamens of Ixia are equi- 

 lateral; those of Babiana and Sparaxis unilateral. Ixias 

 have about G erect grass like Ivs. arranged in 2 ranks: 

 Babiana lias plaited, hairy Ivs. 



Bulb catalogues give no hint whatever as to the 

 linrenfage of the numerous named varieties. Not one 

 of tliem mentions /. viaciihita nor /. colnmellaris. 

 which were the two all-important parent stocks. Of the 

 '2.'! species recognized liy Baker in Elora Capensis, 

 vol. 0, I80G, only /. vtridifJora appears as a trade name, 

 but /. Hpeciosa and paniculaia are advertised under 

 tljeir synonyms cratcrioldcs and lougiflora. T. crocafa 

 is Tritoin'a crocafa, and /. Ifyhridn of the trade is not 

 the Jii/bridn of the botanists, but means nothing more 

 tlian mixed varieties. 



1187. Ixiaflowers 

 in their droop- 

 ing stage. 



(X 14.) 



Before speaking of the dominant types, it is conve- 

 nient to mention some very distinct species which are 

 still cultivated in a condition not essentially different, 

 botanically, from the wild types. I. panicidata is in- 

 stantly distinguished from all other Ixias in cult, by its 

 very long tube, w^hich is often 3 in. long. It is also the 

 last to bloom. I. viridlfJora is unique in the genus for 

 its green flowers, and it is one of the few green-flowered 

 plants that are attractive. Whether this species has 

 hybridized with the other dark-eyed species is conjec- 

 tural. At any rate, the prototype is a popular plant 

 to-day. 



Of y6 named varieties received from 3 leading dealers 

 in America, England and Holland, and supposed to he 

 a representative collection, all but a bare dozen seem to 

 be the offspring of /. tnnculufa and /. columelluria. 

 Both of these species have a purple or purple-black eye, 

 sometimes brown, and the white and yellow colors of tbe 

 segments are derived from inticn lata, ^hilQ the lilac and 

 purple shades of the segments are derived from columel- 

 laria. Baker makes no distinction between these two 

 prototypes except that of color. The common opinion 

 is that Ixias hybridize freely, both at the Cape and in 

 cultivation, and it is usually said that they are now 

 so thoroughly mixed by hybridization and selection 

 that it is impossible to refer any of the named horti- 

 cultural varieties to their proper species. Nevertheless, 

 from a study of the specimens mentioned above and the 

 colored plates cited below, the writer ventures the opin- 

 ion that the vast majority of cultivated Ixias are eyed 

 forms, which, with the exception of viridiflora, can be 

 readily referred either to ■}naciilata or to columellaris, 

 and that all such forms could be reproduced without 

 hybridization if the original types were reintroduced 

 from the Cape and subjected to an equal period of selec- 

 tion. 



The real mystery in Ixia is why the self-colored forms 

 are so little cultivated. There are at least 7 species with 

 self-colored fls. which should be obtained directly 

 from the Cape, if necessary, for they would all make 

 decided additions to the Ixias that are in common culti- 

 vation. These are: polysfacliy a, pure white; flexuosa, 

 white, veined rose, with fine red and purple varieties; 

 arisfata, a superior pink; Intea, orange; patens, bright 

 red; s /icc iona, ruhj-red, and odorata, yellow. Of the 

 eyed forms ocata, a bright red flower, should be added, 

 as this color seems to be lacking among the varieties 

 that are commonl;^ cultivated; also monadeJpha in its 

 variety with pale blue segments. 



One of the most desirable of all these little-known 

 types is /. speciosa, which is shown in the Botanical 

 Magazine, with a delightful ruby-red color, untouched 

 with any suggestion of purple, lilac or allied shades. 

 This form would se*m to promise to the hybridizer the 

 possibility of several distinct shades of red that now 

 seem to be practically unknown in cultivated Ixias. A 

 synonym of /. speciosa is /. craterioides, which is a 

 common trade name, but it is doubtful if the ruby-red 

 form is in general cultivation. At any rate, it has not 

 been sufliciently exploited. The dearth of good colored 

 plates of modern cultivated Ixias is out of all proportion 

 to their commercial and artistic value. The writer has 

 no record of any good one since that published in 1884 in 

 "The Garden."' 



Ixia flowers are charming in every stage of develop- 

 ment. At first the flowers are erect and cup-shaped. 

 They close at night and remain closed on dark days. 

 As they grow older they open wider and become more 

 star-shaped. The reader may judge by Eig. 3187 of the 

 beauty of tbe flowers in theirdrooping stage. Theplants 

 remain in flower for three weeks, though the faded 

 flowers at the bottom of the spike should be taken off 

 toward the end of tbe period. As cut-flowers, they are 

 presentable for a week or two. "SV, M. 



Culture of Ixias Out-of-dooks. — The writer has al- 

 ways liked Ixias, but has considered that it is too much 

 trouble to grow them under glass. They are vastly more 

 satisfactory when grown outside. The planting of the 

 bulbs should be delayed until the last moment, because 

 Ixias are more inclined than most things to make an au- 

 tnntnal growth. They should lie planted 3 inches deep, 

 as late as November 30. In planting Imlbs it is always 



