ALSTRCEMERIA. 



157 



cameiis, prefer a light, sandy soil, mixed with peat, whereas the species 

 orbicularis^ orassipesj and some others, prefer a strong loamy soil. They 

 require a moderate supply of water while growing, but during their season 

 of rest they should be kept diy, but not taken out of the pots until the 

 season approaches, when they are beginning to grow, when they, like all 

 other bulbs, must be re-potted into fresh mould. H. mv.ltvfi.orus is an 

 exception to the above rule, for it requh'es a sn'ong heat to flower it weU. 



ALSTRCEMERIA. 



This splendid genus, chiefly natives of Chih, will all thrive and flower 

 in thefuUest perfection in a warm, sheltered border in the open air. Their 

 singularity of form and beauty of coloming, however, demand for them a 

 place in the bulb house, which is the most suitable for their c^ilture, as 

 they associate better in appearance with bulbous-rooted plants than with 

 any other. 



A rich, hght, loamy soil is the most proper for them ; and when culti- 

 vated in pots they should be of large chmensions, as their roots are nu- 

 merous, large, and very impatient of resti'aint. Most of them ripen seeds 

 freely, from which abundance of young plants can be obtained ; but the 

 most ready and expeditious mode of multiplying them, is by dividing the 

 roots when potted or planted out in spring. The older species of this 

 genus, viz., A. Jiytu and pelegrina, were long considered shy-flowering 

 plants ; the reason was, they were treated as stove plants, and the too fre- 

 quent error faUen into of keeping them constantly in a state of excite- 

 ment. Ah plants of this genus, hke bulbous -rooted plants in general, 

 should have a period of rest, and that commences when the fohage has 

 been fully developed, the flowers faded, and the seeds matured : at which 

 rime water should be gradually withheld, and during the period of their 

 repose they should be kept quite diy. 



This family ai'e chiefly natives of Alpine situations, consequently they 

 require to be cultivated in an airy, dx}' situation, and where the roots can 

 be protected from severe fi'ost dming vrinter. Dming the season of then- 

 growth, they can hardly be too hberaUy supphed with water, but while in 

 an inactive state, are to be kept quite dry. The whole of our collection, 

 amounting to thirteen species and varieties, have flowered most abundantly 

 and splendidly, planted in a naiTOw border m front of a plant stove, and 

 some duphcate plants have even flowered in the borders in the open gar- 

 den : the only protection they had diuing the winter of 1S36-7, when the 



