194 THE FLORIST AND 



Europe, and is the one most commonly used in pot culture, under the names 

 Due van Thol (single and double) and Tournsol, which last is the most 

 handsome, being much larger and finer in color than Van Thol. All the 

 genus is worthy of notice, but, besides the above mentioned, the species 

 Oculis Solis, sylvestris, cornuta and precox, may be particularly mentioned. 

 There are also some very handsome and singular varieties, which have been 

 produced from a mixture of the different species, designated Perroquets, 

 producing large flowers with jagged or deeply-torn edges, and also others 

 that are double, as Sweet scented yellow, La Belle Alliance, Extremite 

 oV Or, La Candeur, Rex Rubrorum, Marriage de ma Fille, Grand For- 

 midable, &c. All, with the exception of T. gesneriana, T. cornuta, and T. 

 sylvestris, are early blowers, and may be used in pot culture, or the open 

 ground. 



Tulips were formerly divided into so many classes, that it was often arbi- 

 trary with the judges where they were placed, but there are at the present 

 day only two principal divisions, viz. : Byblomens, those having a white 

 ground, with purple or rose markings, and Bizarres, those with yellow and 

 brown colors. These two are subdivided into Flamed, having the usual 

 feathering on the margin, and a heavy stripe of the same color passing down 

 the centre of each petal, and Feathered, having simply the feathering with- 

 out the stripe. The criteria of a good tulip are as follows. 



The stem should be strong, elastic, and not less than twenty-four inches 

 high ; the flower ought to be large, and contain six petals, which collectively 

 form a handsome cup, the base being horizontal, and gradually rising into 

 perpendicular, so as to compose a little more than the lower half of a globe, 

 the edges ought to be entire, free from notch or serrature, and both the 

 bottom and top of each petal well rounded and broad. The ground color 

 at the bottom should be a clear white, if a Byblomen, or pure yellow in a 

 Bizarre, and the markings ought to form a distinct feathering over the top, 

 descending a portion of the way down the sides, without any break of the 

 ground color on the edges. In a Flamed tulip, there ought to be a heavy 

 stripe down the centre of each petal, the sides of which, towards the top, 

 may expand from the main into distinct stripes, widening out as they ap- 

 proach the margin, so as to unite as it were in the segment of a circle, and 

 finally becoming a portion of the upper feathering. In the Feathered, the 

 marking may end in a fine point in the centre of each petal, without the 

 continuation of the stripe, and generally the feathering is more nearly con- 

 fined to the edges of the petal. 



As reference has been made above to the " Tulipomania," as it has been 



