BULBOUS PLANTS. 



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rim, vary from pure white to deep lilac. There is, 

 therefore, more diversity of colour in this species than 

 in any other. The original form has pale lilac petals, 

 with a large blotch of reddish-hrown near the base of 



purple. Other varieties are : Emperor, with large 

 flowers of a deep purple, produced later than the 

 other varieties; roseus, an early form, with rose- 

 tinted flowers ; and oculatus, of a bright purple-rose, 



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CALOCHOBTirS VENOSTIja. 



each, and this spot is always bordered with yellow. 

 It is the contrast of the delicate body-colour of the 

 flower with these conspicuous blotches, which renders 

 this species so beautiful. The chief varieties are 

 albm, pure white ; irachysepalus, with shorter petals 

 than the type, less conspicuously spotted ; lilacinus, 

 of a beautiful, deep lilac ; pm-purascens, deep lilac- 



with a very deep blotch, almost black. Under the 

 most favourable conditions C venustus may be grown 

 very large, with stems as much as two feet high, and 

 some sorts, such as Emperor, attain even a larger 

 size than that. Aa a general rule all the Mariposas 

 require frame-culture, as recommended, although 

 in some localities they thrive perfectly in the. open. 



