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PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS antikkhinum 



down, and having thickish, more or less 

 linear lance-shaped leaves, the lower ones 

 4 in a whorl, the upper ones alternate. 

 Flowers late in summer, yellow, with 2 

 brownish spots or lines in the centre. 



Cnlticre dc, as above. Suitable for 

 trailing over ledges in the rookery. In- 

 creased by seeds, cuttings, and division. 



L. spartea. — A pretty erect-growing 

 branched annual, native of the "Western 

 Mediterranean region, having linear 

 lance-shaped erect leaves, the lower ones 

 often in whorls of 3, the upper ones 

 alternate. Flowers in summer and 

 autumn, deep yellow, long-stalked, in 

 smooth or clammy downy racemes. 



CiiUtire d-c. as above. Baised from 

 seeds sown in the open border in April. 



L. triornithophora. — A beautiful 

 perennial 12-18 in. high, with erect 

 branches decumbent at the top, and 

 furnished with smooth, lance-shaped 

 acute leaves. Flowers from June to 

 September, 3 or 4 in a whorl, purple with 

 a yellow centre, long spurs, and an 

 inflated and striped tube. 



Culture d-c. as above. Although a 

 perennial it is safer to raise this species 

 annually from seeds sown in spring or 

 autumn in cold frames, especially in the 

 bleaker parts of the country. It is also 

 easily increased by inserting cuttings of 

 the flowerless shoots in sandy soil in cold 

 frames at the end of summer, and keeping 

 them protected from frost until the follow- 

 ing spring. 



L. vulgaris {Common Toad/lax). — A 

 beautiful British perennial 1-2 ft. high, 

 with a creeping rootstook, and glaiicous 

 linear or lance-shaped leaves 1-3 in. long, 

 often in whorls. Flowers from July to 

 October, in dense racemes, -^-1 in. long, 

 pale yellow or citron with a copper- 

 coloured centre, and curved spur as long 

 as the corolla. The variety peloria 

 referred to above in the generic descrip- 

 tion is a beautiful plant with regular 

 extinguisher-like flowers. It retains its 

 regular character in a cultivated state, but 

 is rarely met with growing wild. 



Culture d-c. as above. Grown in masses 

 in the border or rockery, the Common 

 Toadflax and its variety ;peloria are very 

 beautiful. They thrive in dry sunny posi- 

 tions and may be increased by division. 

 The common variety seeds freely and 

 will reproduce itself naturally under 

 favourable circumstances. 



ANTIRRHINUM (Snapdragon).— A 

 genus containing about 25 species of 

 annual or perennial herbs, rarely under- 

 shrubs, sometimes climbers. Lower 

 leaves rarely all opposite, upper ones often 

 alternate, entire or rarely lobed. Flowers 

 often showy, purplish, yellow, or white, 

 sohtary in the axUs of the cauUne bract- 

 like leaves, or in racemes at the ends of 

 the branches. Calyx 5-parted ; corolla 

 personate, saccate or gibbous, not spmTed; 

 upper lip erect shortly 2-lobed ; lower one 

 spreading 3-lobed, the middle lobe the 

 smallest ; ' palate ' bearded closing the 

 throat. Stamens 4, didynamous ; stigma 

 shortly 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid or globose,- 

 2-celled, the upper cell bursting by one 

 pore, the lower by 2 many-toothed pores. 



The Snapdragons are as easily grown 

 as the Toadflaxes, but require somewhat 

 richer and moister but well-drained soil. 

 There are several species in cultivation 

 but none of them compare in beauty, 

 grace, and value witn the greater or 

 Common Snapdragon (A. majus), for the 

 ornamentation of beds, borders, or rock 

 gardens, nor are they much grown except 

 in botanical gardens. 



Culture and Propagation. — ^All Snap- 

 dragons may be grown and increased 

 much in the same way, but the following 

 remarks, whUe general, apply more parti- 

 cularly to A. majus and its varieties. 

 Seeds may be sown in gentle heat about 

 February, the seedlings being pricked out 

 into pans or singly into small pots and 

 grown on with as much light and air as 

 possible when thoroughly established. By 

 May they wiU be fit for transplanting to- 

 the open ground, and if grown in groups 

 or masses should not be nearer to each 

 other than 12 or 18 inches, according to 

 the bushiness and freedom of the variety. 

 Similar results can be obtained by sowing 

 in a warm sheltered border in March and 

 April, transplanting at the end of May or 

 beginning of Jivne. The next period of 

 sowing is when the seeds are thoroughly 

 ripe— about August and September. In 

 most parts of the country the seeds may 

 be sown in the open border at this period, 

 choosing warm sheltered positions, as the 

 seedlings will have to pass through the 

 winter. It is safer, however, if possible, 

 to shelter them in a cold frame dm-ing 

 the winter months. They will make fine 

 sturdy specimens by the following spring, 

 when they may be transplanted in mild 

 weather. Bv sowing seeds at the various 



