THE TORCH LILIES. 



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of much intercrossing ; they always have, 

 therefore, to be propagated from offsets. 

 Leaving out of consideration the stem- 

 forming kinds such as K. caulescens, the 

 Kniphofias may be roughly divided into 

 two groups, one being the more or less 

 evergreen section, of which the old K. 

 aloides may be taken as a type, and the 

 other those numerous hybrids now in 

 cultivation which have been raised from 

 the deciduous Abyssinian species, comosa 

 and Leichtlini. When increasing those 

 of the first, or evergreen group, the best 

 plan is to take up the clumps about the 

 middle of October and to separate the 

 numerous side-shoots from the old stools 

 with a sharp knife, cutting the roots as 

 little as possible. These shoots, if potted 

 and placed in a cold frame, start growing 

 at once, and by May yield good plants 

 for placing in the open. The other 

 group, of which the fine dwarf-grow- 

 ing K. Leichtlini may be taken as an 

 example, must be handled differently, 

 and if possible never disturbed in the 

 autumn. They are deciduous — at least 

 in our climate — and it is essential that 

 their roots, which are inactive during 

 the winter, should not be injured at its 

 outset or decay sets in and causes them 

 to rot away. These plants should always 

 be increased in spring, taking care that 

 the long straggling roots are bruised as 

 little as possible. 



Best Kinds. — Where bold effects 

 are sought few, if any, are finer than the 

 magnificent K .aloides grandis or nobilis, 

 with their massive towering spikes of 

 scarlet and orange, rising to a height of 

 6 feet and more. A very distinct plant 

 is hybnda speciosa ; this bears very pale 



green foliage, and being late in flower is 

 at its bestabout the end of October. The 

 spikes rise to a great height,and have very 

 compact trusses of a peculiarly brilliant 

 orange-red. A fine list of seedlings con- 

 tains such brilliant sorts as Pfitzeri^jfohn 

 IV iterer, H. Cannell, Hen?y A. Dreer, 

 and others similar in colour. These are 

 all characterised by freedom of flower, 

 growing from 4 to 5 feet high, while the 

 spikes differ from the usual blend of red 

 and yellow in being more or less self- 

 coloured in coral or sealing-wax red, 

 shaded with a lilac or purple sheen. 

 From the crossing of the old K. aloides 

 with the fine Cape species, MacOwani, 

 the beautiful hybrid, Cora llina, resulted, 

 which when true is perhaps unsurpassed . 

 Established plants of this superb variety 

 yield sheaves of brilliant salmon red, 

 orange,and yellow flowers in short com- 

 pact trusses. Unfortunately a great many 

 mere seedlings are grown under this 

 name, which are only enlarged forms of 

 MacOwani and not for a moment to be 

 compared with the true hybrida coral- 

 lina. These all belong to the evergreen 

 section. 



A remarkable series of hybrid va- 

 rieties has sprung from the influence 

 of the Abyssinian species, K. Leichtlini, 

 its variety Aurea, and K. comosa. From 

 these, kinds new in colour have been 

 obtained, none being more remarkable 

 than the varieties Triumph and Obelisk, 

 which produce superb and very large 

 spikes of almost pure yellow. Of reds 

 there are the beautiful Leda and Sirius ; 

 in orange the varieties Ophir, Osiris, z.wd 

 others. In Diana we have an enlarged 

 Leichtlini aurea. The growth of most 



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