276 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



THE BLUE AFRICAN LILY (Aga- 

 panthus), WITH ITS FORMS OLD 

 AND NEW. 



During the days when the range of choice was 

 much less than now, this was one of the com- 

 monest of garden plants, alternating between 

 the terrace-front in summer and the orangery 

 in winter; and even to-day there are few better 

 plants. All that it asks is shelter from severe 

 cold, and moisture in dry weather, while it is 

 free from insect pests and disease. With little 

 trouble a stock can be secured by division, or 

 the plants may be grown for years almost un- 

 touched if abundant water andmanure is given; 

 without this slight care old masses are apt to 

 dwindle. The Agapanthus is most often grown 

 upon terraces or stairways, in large pots or tubs, 

 placed outside in May and housed in late au- 

 tumn. Shallow tubs cut from strong casks are 

 best for this, for, unless strongly hooped with 

 iron, pots are apt to split from pressure of the 

 thick white roots, and are beside more liable to 

 accident when moved and the roots to suffer in 

 hot weather. A good plan is to sink the plants, 

 with or without pots, in an open position upon 

 the lawn, the crest of a grassy bank, or above 

 a low terrace wall ; the arching leaves form a 

 graceful fringe and the flower-spikes are seen 

 to best advantage, lasting longer than when the 

 roots are more exposed. Another gain is that 

 the root-mass, which is rather out of propor- 

 tion to the crown of leaf and flower, is hidden. 

 They may also be finely grown near water 

 grouped in massive clumps of a hundred or 

 more crowns, which will yield a grand display 

 during a good part of the summer; but in that 

 case it will be well to choose young plants with 

 light compact roots which can be readily taken 

 up and stored in frost-proof quarters during 

 winter, the crowns packed closely and with just 

 enough moisture to keep the leaves crisp. Old 

 plants may safely be left outside till Christmas 

 if space is wanting, provided there is at hand a 

 shed in which they can be put during sharp 

 weather; in mild districts they are frequently 

 so sheltered during the whole winter. There 

 are not many inland places in which they do 

 not suffer from wet or cold if left out altogether, 

 though in favoured districts and mild winters 

 they do very well in the warm angle of a wall, 

 but they do not take kindly to long spells of 



semi-darkness when covered from frost. Well 

 potted in a mixture of good, rather stiff loam 

 and leaf-mould they may be left for years with 

 an occasional top-dressing, but there must be 

 ample drainage. Fine mature plants will bear 

 as many as forty to fifty spikes of blooms in a 

 season. When dividing old plants they should 

 be thoroughly soaked for some hours before- 

 hand, the crowns can then be shaken apart with 

 comparative ease ; and without endangering 

 the roots. 



Varieties. — Beside a number of garden 

 varieties, these include several distinct natural 

 forms, but hitherto botanists have regarded 

 them as local variations of one species. Of recent 

 years other forms have been discovered, some 

 of them very different from the type, but for 

 the present they are best regarded as forms of 

 A. umbellatus. These new forms, the descrip- 

 tion of which will be found below, include 

 Messrs. Bull's new plant, A. insignis; caulescens, 

 a plant distinct in habit, grown by Mr. T. 

 Smith of Newry ; and two new kinds, Saint- 

 paulii and Weillighi, reported from Baden, and 

 belonging to the group of small hardy varieties 

 which shed their leaves in winter. Some of the 

 garden forms include variegated plants, with 

 leaves striped and ribboned with white or gol- 

 den yellow. Thefollowinglist embraces all the 

 forms grown in gardens, with a brief note of 

 their distinguishing features: — 



A. u. albidus. — A small-growing plant, 

 forming a large fleshy root-stock and losing its 

 leaves in winter, when it is best taken up and 

 stored dry ; the flower-head is large and showy, 

 though the pure white flowers are somewhat 

 small. 



A.albus. — The old white form of the plant, 

 bearing white flowers ; weaker in growth and 

 generally smaller than the type. 



A. albo-lilacinus. — A garden variety dis- 

 tinct in the colouring of its flowers, which are 

 white, shaded blue, and in its habit, the flower 

 stem hardly rising above the leaves. 



A. atro-cceruleus. — A garden form with 

 flowers of a very deep violet-blue. 



A.bicolori. — A distinct variety of good form 

 and habit, and bearing flowers white and blue. 



A. candidus. — A pure white form, robust, 

 and with flowers of great substance. 



A. caulescens. — A new plant which has not 

 yet shown bloom in this countrybut isdistinct 



