158 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



other parts of Western Asia. It was introduced to this 

 country before the end of the 16th century, and is a favourite 

 spring flowering bulb, there being many single and double 

 varieties of various colours. It is extensively cultivated at 

 Haarlem, in Holland, where there are large farms devoted 

 entirely to the growth of this and other bulbous plants, 

 for the supply of this country and other parts of Europe 

 and America. 



II. Asphodel Group. 



Plants growing in tufta, without evident stems (phyllo- 

 corm) having long, linear, or strap-shaped leaves, often 

 channelled, and sometimes sword-shaped. Roots fascicled 

 or cord-like. 



Silver Rod, King's Spear (AspJwdelus ramosus). Found in 

 great abundance in the vicinity of Palmyra in Syria, where 

 its roots are extensively collected, and form an article of 

 trade to Damascus and other places in Palestine. They are 

 ground into meal, and made into paste used in bookbinding, 

 shoemaking, and such like. Golden Rod {A. luteus). Day 

 JA\j (Hemerocallis Jlava and H.fulva), are well known showy 

 garden plants. 



Tritoma uvaria. A native of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 is cultivated as a border plant. It has long, narrow, chan- 

 nelled leaves, and bears spikes of vermiUon-coloured flowers 

 2 — 3 feet high, and when seen at a distance is not unlike 

 a red-hot poker in appearance, whence it is commonly known 

 in this country as the " Red-hot Poker plant." 



Love Flower {Agapanthus umhellatus). Introduced from 

 the Cape of Good Hope to this country about the end of the 

 seventeenth century. It has long strap-shaped leaves, and 

 bears large umbels of pale blue flowers on scapes 2 — 4 feet 

 high. It is a beautiful plant cultivated in greenhouses. 



HI. Aloe Groxjp. 



Simple, or branched Palmids, or free, above-ground, pe- 

 rennial phyllocorms. Leaves grass, or sword-like, in Aloes 



