BULBOUS PLANTS. 



215 



piirpureo-auratus itself is not a very attractive 

 species, the flowers being- rather small, curiously 

 hooded in shape, and coloured with yellow and 

 blackish-purple hues. It is almost, if not quite, 

 hardy in this climate, and is a strong grower and 

 free flowerer, and very productive of offsets. 

 In the Lemoinei race we have a greater diversity 

 of tints than exist even in the Gandavensis group, 

 and the way the brilliant tints are combined in 

 the flowers of the same variety is marvellous. 

 The same treatment as the Gandavensis section suits 

 this new race, and owing to their stoloniferous habit 

 of growth (a characteristic of G. purpureo-auratas) 

 they can be readily propagated, and dozens of 

 bulblets may be taken from a parent bulb in one 

 season. The following list comprises a few of the 

 most noteworthy kinds of the Lemoinei family : — 

 Lemoinei, and Marie Lemoine, two of the original 

 seedlings, and both very beautiful sorts, still un- 

 surpassed in their respective colours by newer kinds ; 

 Alsace, Lafayette, Andre Chenier, Emile Lemoine, 

 Ferdinand de Lesseps, Mars, Amiral Pierre, 

 Guerrier de Dumast, Enfant de Nancy, President 

 Grevy, La France, Gambetta, and Enfant de 

 Lorraine. 



Griffmia. — Important garden plants, bearing 

 large, showy flower-heads during autumn and spring. 

 All are tropical plants, hence they require the 

 temperature of a stove, and being evergreen they do 

 not need a dry rest at any period of growth. They 

 are easy to grow if treated like Eucharis. 



season, and requiring similar 



G. Blumenavia — flowers a 

 pure white, and heavily- 

 pencilled with carmine, 

 borne in autumn or spring. 



G. hyacinthina has large and 

 dense clusters of flowers, 

 of a bluish - lilac tint. 

 In the variety maxima, 

 they are three or four 

 inches across, and white : 



in minor or parviflora, 

 they are smaller ; gene- 

 rally flowers throughout 

 the autumn months. 

 G. ornata — produces during 

 the winter months large 

 clusters of delicate bluish- 

 lilac flowers, which fade 

 to nearly white. 



Habranthus pratensis. — A Chilian bulb, pro- 

 ducing flower-stems about a foot in height, carrying 

 from two to four large, showy flowers of a bright 

 orange-red, intensely brilliant in the variety fulgens, 

 which is by far the most desirable plant to cultivate. 

 It is of easy cultivation in pots in a frame or green- 

 house, but the most satisfactory way to grow it is to 

 plant the bulbs out in a well-drained border of light 

 and rather rich loamy soil at the foot of a sunny 

 south wall. It flowers in May or June. In winter 

 cover the bulbs with ashes, or other protective 

 material. Other species in cultivation are LL. 

 Andersoni, with yellowish-red flowers; H. Bagnoldi, 

 flowers yellow and pale red ; H. hesperius, flowers 

 red and yellow— all South American plants of about 

 the same degree of hardiness as LL. pratensis, flower- 



ing about the same 

 treatment. 



Hsemantlms {Blood Lilies). — These are among 

 the showiest of green-house and stove bulbs, possess- 

 ing for the most part brilliantly-coloured flowers. 

 Their flowers are borne in dense clusters, and the 

 stamens protrude considerably from the heads of the 

 flowers, so as to give them a brush-like appearance, 

 the prevalent colours being reds and scarlets. The 

 species, numbering about a score, divide themselves 

 naturally into two groups. In one the leaves are 

 large, of thin texture, and generally wavy at the 

 margins. The bulbs, also, of the species in this 

 group are characterised by combining a large pro- 

 portion of the stems. The species of this group, 

 moreover, separate themselves into two sets, one 

 having erect petals to the flowers, as in LL. multi- 

 Jlorus, while in others the petals are spreading, as in 

 H. puniceus and LL. Natalensis. In the second section 

 the bulbs are more compressed, and the leaves, which 

 though large are of fleshy texture, are generally 

 arranged opposite each other, as in the well-known 

 H. coccineus. The species in this group are also 

 classed into two sets, one having spreading petals, 

 the other erect. 



The Blood Lilies are all natives of Africa, the 

 greater number of the three-dozen-odd species known 

 to botanists being found at the Cape, and these are 

 suitable for green-house culture. The rest inhabit 

 more tropical parts, and therefore require stove 

 culture, and as they are easily grown, and for the 

 most part easily obtainable, they constitute a rather 

 important family of bulbs. The following list 

 comprises the most noteworthy kinds among those 

 in cultivation, several of which have been in gardens 

 for generations : — 



Green -house Species (Natives of South Africa). 



H. albiflos — one of the 

 smallest growers. Leaves 

 short and fleshy ; flowers 

 white, produced in dense 

 clusters on short stems. 



H. carneus — somewhat like 

 the last, but with rose- 

 tinted flower-heads. 



H. coccineus — one of the 

 oldest of Cape bulbous 

 plants, commonly called 

 Cape Tulip. Leaves large 

 and fleshy, spreading 

 horizontally ; flower-heads 

 dense bright scarlet. Vari- 

 ous forms of this species 

 are in gardens, one of the 

 best known being carina- 

 tus. 



H. moschatus— not a showy 

 but a desirable plant, on ac- 

 count of its delicately per- 

 fumed flowers. The flower- 

 heads are pale pink, pro- 

 duced before the leaves. 



H. Natalensis— a beautiful 

 species, having ample 



leaves, and large dense 

 clusters of flowers, ac- 

 companied by very rich 

 crimson - purple bracts ; 

 the flowers themselves 

 are pale, with yellow- 

 tipped anthers. Flowers 

 in February. 



H. pubescens — a very old 

 and well-known species, 

 not so desirable as others. 

 It has white flower-heads, 

 and large leaves, covered 

 with soft, whitish, hairs. 



H. puniceus — one of the 

 finest of the genus, and 

 has long been a favourite 

 cultivated plant, having 

 been grown so long ago as 

 1722. The flower-heads 

 are large and dense, and 

 of a brilliant scarlet, pro- 

 duced in early summer, 

 but may be forced into 

 flower earlier. One of the 

 easiest of all to grow and 

 flower well. 



