THE HYACINTH AND THE AMAKYLLIS. 



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THE HYACINTH AND THE AMAKYLLIS. 



At the meeting of the Floral and Fruit Committees of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, March 23, there was a fine display of the show 

 varieties of hyacinths and amaryllis, and Mr. Shirley Hibberd, at the 

 invitation of the Council, gave a brief lecture on their history and 

 characteristics. 



Mr. Hibberd said the hyacinth was a comparatively modern 

 flower ; certainly less ancient as a florist's flower than the carnation, 

 anemone, iris, tulip, narcissus, and lily. It is reported in the books 

 that John Parkinson had above fifty varieties of hyacinths, but when 

 we turn to the " Paradisus " we find that of the true oriental 

 hyacinth, which alone of this class is the flower of the florist, 

 Parkinson had but eight varieties, some of which in respect of their 

 relationship to the hyacinth proper are certainly in a doubtful posi- 

 tion. John Gerarde had about half a dozen, and amongst them a 

 good double blue, which in Johnson's edition is admirably figured 

 at page 114. Going back to Dodoens, we find that in 1550 this 

 botanist of the Low Countries was acquainted with the oriental 

 hyacinth, the flowers of which were of an excellent blue colour, and 

 at page 206 of Lyte's translation of his "Historie of Plantes" will be 

 found a figure showing that the hyacinth of that day was a poor 

 thing, producing a few single flowers like those we are accustomed 

 to see on offsets of a year old. It is remarkable, however, that the 

 hyacinths of the older writers, however genuine as representing the 

 oriental species, comprised only blue and purple varieties. The 

 grand old masters, who produced books that put to the blush the 

 puny productions of the modern horticultural press, were apparently 

 ignorant of the glorious crimson and carmine and the delicate yel- 

 low coloured hyacinths that are now so much prized in displays of 

 spring flowers. When these originated may be guessed at, but we 

 shall probably never know to a year, or even to fifty years, when 

 they first appeared, and those who discovered or raised them appear 

 not to have bequeathed to us any records of their benevolent deeds. 

 It is certain however that Holland was the first home in Europe of 



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