34 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 



BABIAJSTA. 



All the Babianas have handsome flowers, and most 

 of them have hairy leaves ; the colors of their flowers are 

 various, the blue predominating, but so brilliant that a 

 splendid display for fully two months of the year may 

 be had from these bulbs alone. They are all natives of 



the arid plains near the Cape 

 of Good Hope, where they 

 are exposed to alternate sea- 

 sons of excessive rain and 

 excessive drouth, the ground 

 during the dry season being 

 so loose and powdery that 

 the bulbs often lie partly 

 bare, and exposed to the 

 heat of the sun„ All the 

 kinds of Babiana are propa- 

 gated by offsets or from 

 seed; the rapidity with which 

 they may be multiplied by 

 offsets makes this the better 

 plan of propagation, partic- 

 ularly as the varieties from 

 seed are very variable. The 

 only place for these bulbs is 



BABIANA RITBBO-OYANEA. in the g^OUSe, as their 



time for flowering is from 

 February until May. A light, loose soil suits them best, 

 and they require strong light and an abundance of water. 

 The bulbs should be planted or repotted about the first 

 of December, putting from ten to twelve in a six-inch 

 pot ; after potting, withhold water until there is an 

 appearance of growth, when it should be applied liber- 

 ally, and the pots placed in position for flowering. After 



