HELIOTEOPIUM 



FOBGET-ME-NOT OBDEB omphalodbs 671 



in masses by themselves or forming a 

 carpet xinder taller plants. Cuttings 

 about 2 in. long readily root in spring in 

 sandy soil placed in the greenhouse or 

 hotbed, and during the summer hundreds 

 of plants may be obtained from old shoots 

 if necessary in the same way. During 

 the winter the old plants require to be 

 kept in a dry airy place with plenty of 

 light and free from frost. Seeds may 

 also be sown in early spring in sandy 

 peat and loam, and by the end of May the 

 seedlings will be ready for planting out. 



H. anchussefolium (Tournefortia 

 heUotropoides). — A downy species native 

 of Mexico and Argentina. It grows 9-18 

 in. high and has oval lance-shaped blunt 

 and wavy leaves. The scentless flowers 

 appear from July to September and are 

 borne on one side of a crosier-like raceme. 

 They are lilac-blue with a yellowish-white 

 throat. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species is somewhat hardier than the 

 others and will survive mild wmters in 

 the open air in the mildest parts of the 

 country. It may be raised from seeds as 

 recommended above, and where it proves 

 hardy outside, it may also be easily mul- 

 tiplied by dividing the creeping roots in 

 spring. 



H. convolvulaceum. — A showy annual 

 2 ft. high, native of New Mexico, with 

 lance-shaped or nearly ovate or linear 

 short-stalked leaves. Flowers in summer, 

 white, sweet-scented, opening at night. 



Culture &c. as above. Seeds may be 

 sown in gentle heat in March and the 

 seedlings planted out at the end of May 

 or beginning of June. 



H. corymbosum (ff. grandiflorum). — 

 A pretty Peruvian tender shrub, about 

 4 ft. high, with oblong lance-shaped leaves. 

 Flowers from May to September, lilac, 

 clustered in terminal spikes. 



Culture dc. as above. 



H. peruvianum. — A shrubby Peruvian 

 species, better known in gardens than 

 any other. Leaves oblong lance-shaped, 

 wrinkled, crenate, hairy. Flowers in 

 summer, pale blue or greyish-lilac, very 

 fragrant, in terminal branched, more or 

 less curled, one-sided spikes. 



There are several fine varieties, such 

 as Anna Turrell, General Ga/rfield, Boi 

 des Noirs and Triomphe de Liege. The 

 variety known as YolaterrcB (or Voltaire) 



is a fine dwarf-growing hybrid, supposed 

 to have originated at Volterra in Italy. 

 It has more hairy and larger leaves than 

 the type, and deep blue flowers marked 

 with white in the throat. It is equally 

 fragrant, but somewhat more tender, and 

 is probably better for the greenhouse than 

 the open border, except in the mildest part. 

 The Queen of Violets and King of the 

 Blacks are also good varieties, and so is 

 Marguerite, which has large trusses of 

 deep blue flowers. 



Culture dc. as above. 



OMPHALODES (Navelwoet).— A 

 genus containing about 10 species of pretty 

 weak-growing smooth or slightly hairy 

 annual or perennial herbs. Lower leaves 

 long-stalked, lance-shaped ovate or heart- 

 shaped, those of the stem alternate. 

 Flowers white or blue, slenderly stalked, 

 rarely all in the leaf-axUs ; raeemesloose, 

 without bracts, or with leafy bracts at the 

 base. Calyx 5-lobed or parted, spreading. 

 Corolla nearly rotate with a very short 

 tube, and 5 broad blunt spreading lobes. 

 Stamens 5. Ovary 4-lobed developing 

 into nutlets in fruit, furnished with a 

 membranous inflexed wing or border, 

 which renders them cup-shaped and dis- 

 tinguishes the genus from its neighbours. 



Culture a/nd Propagation. — Ompha- 

 lodes are pretty rock or border plants and 

 flourish in ordinary good garden soil. 

 They are easily raised from seeds sown 

 in spring in cold frames or gentle heat, 

 the seedlings being planted out in May. 

 Seeds may also be sown as soon as ripe, 

 and the pricked-out seedlings may be 

 wintered in a cold frame until the follow- 

 ing April and May, when they will be 

 ready for the open border. Or the old 

 tufts of the perennial kinds may be care- 

 fully divided and replanted in spring just 

 as growth is about to begui. 



O. linifolia (Fenjts's Na/velwort). — 

 A pretty Portuguese annual 9-12 in. high, 

 with glaucous-green leaves, wedge-shaped 

 at the base, linear lance-shaped above. 

 Flowers from June to August, white, 

 sometimes tinged with blue, in bractless 

 racemes. Also known as Cynoglossum. 



Culture and Propagation. — Seeds 

 may be sown in April in the open border 

 where the plants are to bloom. In warm 

 favourable parts of the covuitry seeds are 

 ripened freely and often sow themselves, 

 giving a number of strong sturdy plants 

 in spring. 



