250 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 



PANCRATIUM. 



This is a genus of greenhouse or half-hardy bulbs, 

 but little cultivated, from the fact that their beauty and 

 usefulness is not proportionate to their price, or the cost 

 of cultivation. The flowers are white, or greenish white, 

 produced in large umbels, on a solid scape about two 

 feet high. The species abound in the South of Europe, 

 Africa, Arabia, and in several of the more southern of 

 the United States. They all require greenhouse treat- 

 ment, thriving best when planted in a rather light 

 loamy soil. They require a season of perfect rest, and 

 are propagated by offsets. See engraving, Page 249. 



P. maritimum (Sea Daffodil). — This plant abounds 

 on the coast of the Mediterranean, in the sands, where 

 it has the burning rays of the sun and the cold winds 

 from the sea. These conditions are difficult to furnish 

 in the greenhouse, and to flower well it must have them. 

 It seems to have been created for the position it fills in 

 its native habitat, where it blooms most profusely. 



P. ovatum. — A native of the West Indies, and is 

 the most beautiful of the genus, and a desirable green- 

 house plant, bearing an umbel of fifteen to thirty pure 

 white, sweet-scented flowers, most useful for cut flower 

 decoration, while the plant in bloom is one of the most 

 useful for decorative purposes. It is an easy subject to 

 manage, and can be made to bloom twice in a season, by 

 giving it complete rest soon after flowering, and a humid 

 atmosphere when in growth. 



P. carolinianum. — Common on the Southeastern 

 coast of North America from South Carolina to Florida. 

 This is now considered a synonym of P. maritimum, 

 the slight difference in habit being attributed to climatic 

 influences. 



P. calathinum (Hymenocallis). — A native of 

 Brazil, with pure white, fragrant flowers ; this is listed 



