BULBOUS PLANTS. 



339 



localities they should be lifted in autumn and kept 

 through the winter. If the bulbs are planted at the 

 foot of a warm south wall, they frequently require 

 no further attention. The best soil for the hardier 

 kinds is a sandy loam, and the bulbs should be 

 planted several inches in the border. 



Pentlandia miniata. — A pretty Peruvian bulb, 

 tolerably hardy, but requiring green-house culture. 

 It is a small-growing plant, with slender flower- 

 spikes of bell-shaped flowers of a bright orange-red 

 colour. It thrives 

 in company with 

 such as Stenomesson 

 and Phcedranassa, 

 and flowers during 

 the early part, of 

 summer. 



P h. ae dranassa. 



— Amaryllidaceous 

 plants, natives of 

 tropical America, 

 and allied to Olivia. 

 One of the three 

 species, P. chloracea, 

 is very handsome. 

 It has large leaves 

 of a deep green. The 

 flower - stem rises 

 erect for about two 

 feet in height, bear- 

 ing an umbelled 

 cluster of from six 

 to eight drooping 

 tubular flowers of a 

 brilliant red, tipped 

 with deep green. It 

 flowers in early 



summer, generally about May. This description 

 applies to the typical form, but there are other 

 inferior varieties of it, poorer in colour, such as those 

 named rubro-viridis, multiflora, and obtusa. They are 

 all natives of tropical America, chiefly in the Andes 

 of Peru, and may be successfully grown in an ordi- 

 nary close green-house, treated in the same way as 

 Ismene and such-like genera. 



Phaloeallis plumbea.— This Brazilian bulb 



(known also as Tigridia ccelestis and Cypella plumbea) 

 is a curious plant, but not showy, and therefore only 

 worth growing in a botanical collection. It requires 

 to be treated like Tigridias. 



Place a. — A small genus of Chilian plants allied 

 to Pancratium and Eliscena, but only a few species 



Pancratium Caribb&om 



are in cultivation. Among these are P. Arzce and 

 P. ornata, both pretty plants. The flowers of both 

 are about two inches across, in form like those of a 

 Nerine, but at once distinguished from that genus by 

 the narrow tube-like corona. In ornata they are 

 white, tipped with red ; while in P. Arzce they are 

 white, with longitudinal streaks of red. They thrive 

 under the same conditions as Eliscena and Ismene. 



Plagiolirion Horsmanni. — This plant re- 

 sembles the JEucharis, but is not so attractive in 



its flowers, which 

 are white ; produced 

 during summer. The 

 same treatment as 

 for Eucharis suits it. 



Polianthes 

 tuberosa {Tube- 

 rose). — This lovely 

 and popular bulb is 

 a native of the tro- 

 pics of the East 

 Indies. The wild 

 form is, of course, 

 single - flowered, 

 pure white, and de- 

 liciously fragrant, 

 but the most popu- 

 lar for cultivation 

 are the double varie- 

 ties. The culture 

 of Tuberoses has de- 

 veloped quite an 

 industry in New 

 Jersey, in Algiers, 

 and various parts 

 of Italy, and the 

 produce from these 

 countries are known variously as American, African, 

 and Italian varieties. The African bulbs arrive here 

 about September, and these are bought for supplying 

 an early crop of bloom. The American and Italian 

 bulbs arrive about Christmas time, and these form a 

 succession to the African. As soon as the bulbs are 

 received they should be potted in good soil, consisting 

 of two parts of fibrous loam, one of sand, and one part 

 each of leaf-mould and pulverised cow-manure. The 

 bulbs should be potted firmly, the strongest singly, 

 the smallest three in a 6-inch pot. The pots should 

 be plunged in a gentle hot-bed at first, as Tuberoses 

 dislike hard forcing, but when in full growth a 

 temperature of from 70° to 80° may be given. The 

 bulbs should have plent) 7 of water, and occasional 

 doses of weak manure-water will assist them. They 

 must be well ventilated, or the growth will become 



