THE CAPE COWSLIPS, 



by the bright red of the sterile buds and the 

 top of the scape. As a winter flower it is of 

 great value, and when massed in pans or baskets 

 very effective. It is one of the most difficult 

 kinds to cross, but a few good seedling forms 

 are in cultivation. These are splendens, a form 

 due rather to the growth than to other distinc- 

 tions ; gigantea, a fine variety in which the 

 flowers are inches long, held with a decfded 

 droop upon a stout arching stem. This is a 

 well-marked kind, differingin colour and habit 

 from its parent,flowering later by several weeks, 

 and increasing far more slowly. A third and 

 handsome variation \%pendula aureliana, a fine 

 plant of obscure origin. A small cluster of three 

 bulbs was found growing wild in the moun- 

 tains of the Esterel, near the old Roman road 

 known as the Aurelian Way, and not far from 

 Cannes — a fact inexplicable seeing that all the 

 Lachenalias are natives of South Africa. It 

 is difficult to imagine an escape from cultiva- 

 tion in so wild a spot, and equally hard to own 

 it as a native plant, in view of the small num- 

 ber of bulbs found, and that the district has 

 been vainly searched for others. The fact re- 

 mains that the plant is quite distinct, of even 

 more robust growth and flowering several 

 weeks later than pendula ; its flowers, rather 

 shorter in the tube, are more numerous, more 

 drooping, held upon longer stalks, and are more 

 widely open at the mouth, while their colour 

 is a brighter shade of reddish-crimson. The 

 plant has been well shown by local growers at 

 the Cannes flower show in March of each year, 

 and always attracts notice. The long arching 

 spikes bear sometimes as many as forty flowers, 

 and minor points of difference are the longer 

 and less fleshy leaves, and its very slow increase 

 by offsets. 



Ij.purpureo-ccerulea. — A distinct and pretty 

 plant with erect, bell-shaped flowers of deep, 

 purplish-blue in dense, many-flowered spikes. 

 The leaves, 6 to 8 inches long, are narrow, and 

 covered with blistered markings. April. 



L. pusilla. — A small and inconspicuous 

 plant, bearing a few pale lilac flowers, and small 

 spotted leaves. 



L. pustulata. — A vigorous and many- 

 flowered kind, but uncertain in growth andnot 

 showy. Its small flowers are more bell-shaped 

 than tubular and borne in compact spikes, about 

 half an inch long, with the white petals shad- 



ing to green, and reflexed towards the mouth 

 of the tube. The leaves are covered with wart- 

 like knobs or blisters. 



L. quadricolor. — The forms known under 

 this name are considered as varieties of L. tri- 

 color. 



L. reflexa. — This differs in many points 

 from others of the group, and has been placed 



SPIKE OF HYBRID LA.CHENALIA. 

 W. E. GUMBLETON. 



by botanists in a sub-genus. A dwarf plant and 

 not showy, it bears long yellow flowers of pe- 

 culiar form, tipped with green and with a shin- 

 ing polished surface. They are held erect upon 

 short stiff stems, the tube swollen in the middle 

 and almost closed at the mouth. The leaves, 



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