NBMBSIA 



FOXGLOVE OBDEB 



LINAltlV 707 



produced into a sac or spur, 2-lipped. 

 Stamens 4, didynamous (2 long, 2 short). 

 Culture and Propagation. — Nemesias 

 very much resemble the Diasoias in ap- 

 pearance and flowers. Those in cultivation 

 may be raised from seeds sown in heat in 

 «arly spring, or in the open border in 

 April and May, and even later for a suc- 

 cession of bloom. They flourish in ordi- 

 nary soil and look best when grown in 

 broad patches. They will flower in winter 

 and early spring in greenhouses from 

 autumn-sown seeds. They are all natives 

 •of S. Africa. 



N. cynanchifotia. — A pretty square- 

 stemmed annual l-|-2 ft. high, with ovate 

 lance-shaped, remotely toothed leaves, and 

 masses of rich lilac-blue flowers produced 

 ■during the summer and autumn. 



CuUtire dc. as above. 



N. floribunda. — A handsome annual 

 about 1 ft. high, bearing stalked and un- 

 ■stalked leaves and racemes of white and 

 yellow fragrant flowers. 



Culture dc. as above. 



N. strumosa. — A beautiful species 1-2 

 ft. high with oblong lance-shaped leaves 

 and trusses of rich orange flowers at the 

 ■ends of the stems. There are several 

 colour variations, including white, pale 

 yellow, crimson, pink, orange, and numer- 

 ous intermediate shades and combinations. 



Culture and Propagation. — This is 

 very effective grown in beds on lawns. 

 Seeds may be sown in early spring in 

 heat, the seedlings being pricked into 

 shallow boxes when large enough, and 

 from thence to the open ground at the end 

 of May or beginning of June. 



N. versicolor.— A pretty plant 6-12 in. 

 high, with ovate stalked leaves, the upper 

 ones being few, unstalked, and oblong 

 lanoe-shaped or linear. Only compara- 

 tively few blue, lUac, or yellow and white 

 flowers are borne on the racemes during 

 summer. The variety compaata is much 

 more dense in growth, and has narrower 

 leaves and more heavily laden trusses of 

 violet or pale rose flowers. 



Culture dc. as above. Treat like N. 

 strumosa. ' 



LINARIA (Toadflax).— Alarge genus 

 (about 130 species) of herbs, rarely shrubs, 

 with opposite or whorled leaves, the 

 Tipper ones rarely all alternate, entire, 

 toothed, or lobed. Flowers solitary and 

 axillary, or the upper ones often in spikes 



or racemes. Calyx .5 -parted. Corolla 

 personate, 2-lipped, the tube produced into 

 a spur, upper lip erect, lower one 3-lobed, 

 the middle being smallest. Stamens 4, 

 didynamous (2 long, 2 short). Capsule 

 ovoid or globose, many-seeded. 



Sometimes as in the case of Linaria 

 peloria, a variety of the Common Toadflax 

 (L. vulga/ris), the flowers are perfectly 

 regular, having 5 spurs and lobes and 5 

 fertile stamens, the corolla being like a 

 narrow extinguisher in shape with a roun- 

 ded top (see Glossary, fig. 80). 



Culture and Propagation. — The Toad- 

 flaxes are of very easy culture in ordinary 

 garden soil in rather dry and sunny situa- 

 tions, many of them being very orna- 

 mental in the rockery, the margins of 

 borders and shrubberies, on old ruins, 

 walls &c., according to habit and height. 

 The perennial' kinds are easily increased 

 by dividing the tufts in early autumn or 

 early spring. Seeds may also be sown 

 in spring or in autumn as soon as ripe. 

 The annual species are raised from seed 

 sown in spring either in cold frames or 

 gentle heat according to the tenderness of 

 the species, or in the open ground. When 

 seeds of tender species are sown in autumn 

 the plants require the protection of cold 

 frames during the winter. Many of the 

 perennial kinds are also easily increased 

 by means of cuttings of the non-flowering 

 shoots inserted in sandy soil in cold 

 frames at the end of summer or early 

 autumn. They root freely and may be 

 transferred to the open border the follow- 

 ing spring in mild weather. 



Of the many species known, the follow- 

 ing is a list of the kinds most ornamental 

 and useful for the flower garden : — 



L. alpina. — A beautiful bushy perennial 

 about 6 in. high, native of the Alps and 

 Pyrenees, with more or less linear lance- 

 shaped, thickish, silvery- tinted or glaucous 

 leaves, 4 in a whorl. Flowers in summer 

 in close racemes, bluish-violet with a 

 bright golden centre and an acute spur, 

 sometimes straight, sometimes curved. 

 The variety alba rosea has very pale pink 

 flowers. 



Culture and Propagation. — An ex- 

 cellent plant for the rockery or edges of 

 borders in sandy soil. Increased by seed 

 or division. In favourable spots it will 

 sow its seeds freely and appear year after 

 year as in a naturalised state. 



L. anticaria. — A pretty Spanish per- 

 ennial about 6 in. high, forming tufts of 



zz2 



