ON THE AMARYLLIS 



The bulbous plants of the genus Crinum appear 

 to be somewhat closely related to the Hippeas- 

 trums. There are two species known as Crinum 

 moorei and C. longiflora that grow in Northern 

 California, and there are numerous other species, 

 some of which are evergreens. 



I have grown about twenty species, some of 

 them of tropical origin. Numerous crosses were 

 made among these species until I had a crossbred 

 strain of Crinums of ancestry as complex as that 

 of my Hippeastrums. The seed parent of a larger 

 proportion of the hybrids was the species known 

 as Crinum Americanum, but a few were grown 

 from the seed of C. Anabilis and C. Asiatica. 



In the various crosses, the traits of the species 

 of temperate zones appeared to be prepotent or 

 dominant. 



Interesting hybrids were produced by crossing 

 the Crinums, not with the members of the Hip- 

 peastrum colony (this proving impossible), but 

 with the form of true amaryllis known as 

 Amaryllis helladona. 



The hybrids thus produced were a very curious 

 lot. They seemed undecided whether to take on 

 the flat, strap-shaped leaves of the amaryllis or 

 the tunicate leaves of the other parent. The com- 

 promise led to the production of a leaf with a long 

 curious neck. 



[97] 



