3o6 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



the flower-stalk and colour the whole of its 

 upper part. The tubular flowers, numbering 

 twenty or more on strong plants, are rather 

 short, of orange-yellow tinged with green at 

 the base, contrasted with bright red in the 

 sterile buds and the top of the scape. A hand- 

 some kind flowering in March. 



L. Comesii. — A cross between Ls. rejiexa 

 and tricolor-quadricolor, and only differing from 

 Nelsoni in the length of the floral segments. 



L. contaminata. — One of the oldest but a 

 scarce kind in gardens, with a character for 

 uncertainty in flower. It is variable in form 

 and size, often not more than 2 inches high. 

 Its small crowded flowers, more bell-shaped 

 than tubular,areof dull white, variously shaded 

 withroseorredandwithafaint odourof Helio- 

 trope. Its long and narrow leaves are more nu- 

 merous than in most kinds of Lachenalia, but 

 vary much in length and in density of blotches, 

 which are sometimes quite wanting. Syn. an- 

 gusti folia. 



L. fistulosa. — -A newly -introduced plant 

 with fragrant tubular white flowers tinged with 

 pale blue at the base, and tipped with purple 

 at the mouth. It is distinct in growth, its two 

 fleshy leaves being nearly as broad as they are 

 long. 



L.fragrans. — An old garden plant, flower- 

 ing late in the season, bearing spikes about 

 6 inches high of crowded reddish flowers which 

 are strongly fragrant, and but two oblong green 

 leaves. May. 



L.glaucina. — A striking but variable plant, 

 changing also a good deal in aspect while in 

 flower. Its flowers are held erect upon a stout 

 mottled stalk, and are short and peculiar in 

 shape, being rounded at the base, narrow in the 

 centre, and again expanding to a reflexed mouth 

 when fully open. Theircolourvariesfrom dull 

 white to yellowish-green, sometimes tinged 

 with yellow or red, with a decided green tip 

 at the mouth and a peculiar shade of bluish- 

 green in the sterile buds. The combination of 

 colour is uncommon, and the flowers are plea- 

 santly fragrant. May. A plant of small growth, 

 with two or three leaves, often spotted. 



L. isopetala. — A scarce kind,which had dis- 

 appeared from English gardens until re-intro- 

 duced in 1884. It blooms in April and May, 

 bearing spikes of pale flowers variously tinged 

 with pale rose or red, deepening towards the 



top of the spike. Only two leaves, long and 

 pointed, height 4 to 8 inches. Syn. rosea and 

 bifolia. 



L. lilacina. — A pretty plant, but rare. Its 

 many flowers are of a fine shade of bright lilac, 

 shading to blue, with petals widely spreading 

 towards the mouth of the tube, and carried upon 

 stems densely mottled with reddish-brown. 

 Leaves short and very narrow. 



L. Nelsoni. — This fine garden variety is a 

 form of L. tricolor, and dealt with as such. 



L. nervosa. — A dwarf summer-flowering 

 kind of little interest. Its small bell-shaped 

 flowers appear in short densely-crowded spikes, 

 and are dull white tinged with green and red. 

 Its two spreading leaves are often covered with 

 warty blisters. 



L. orchioides. — An old plant long known, 

 and a very variable kind in growth and colour, 

 bearing narrow flowers often less than half an 

 inch long, erect or semi-erect and closely set 

 upon a spotted stem 3 to 9 inches high. They 

 vary in colour from pale white or yellow to 

 deep blue, sometimes tinged with red, fragrant 

 and appearing from March to May. Leaves 

 long and slender, faintly spotted with pale 

 brown or purple. Syn. mutabilis. 



L. pallida. — A rare species bearing in late 

 springlong densely flowered spikes of tiny erect 

 flowers, little more than one third of an inch 

 long. Their colour is a pale white, tipped with 

 green at the edges of the somewhat urn-shaped 

 tube, sometimes more or less suffused with red, 

 and strongly fragrant. They are carried upon 

 a stout erect stem of 9 to 12 inches of an even 

 green colour, with often twenty-five to thirty 

 flowers in the spike. The long fleshy leaves 

 are held erect and are strongly nerved at their 

 outer edges, of a uniform green above, and dull 

 purple beneath. May. Syn. odoratissima and 

 racemosa. 



L. pendula, and its varieties. — One of the 

 best of the group, a robust grower, and the 

 earliest to flower, its first buds opening in De- 

 cember. Its bulbs are large, increasing freely, 

 while the fleshy mottled leaves of dark green 

 are often a foot long and gracefully curved. 

 The flower-spike is stout and erect, 18 inches 

 high, with its upper part crowded with long 

 horizontally held flowers of bright orange-red 

 and yellow, tipped with green and deep purple 

 at the mouth of the tube, their effect increased 



