550 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



trying since the first species of Gladioli were introduced, and 

 mentioned first the various sections of early-flowering Gladioli 

 (a specialty of some Dutch firms and of the nurserymen of the 

 Channel Isles), and then the extensive series of Gandavensis 

 hybrids, I shall examine more thoroughly the new races of hardy 

 hybrid Gladioli, where I shall distinguish two classes, which are 

 now quite distinct, and have been termed — one, Lemoine's spotted 

 Gladiolus, and the other, Gladiolus nanceianus. I shall explain 

 how both sections were obtained and improved, and, treating 

 their cultivation and their uses, I shall show how easy it is to 

 succeed with them in every soil and exposure, even in places 

 where the growing of other Gladioli may present some difficulty. 



I do not intend to give here a classification of the different 

 botanical species, either introduced and cultivated, or only re- 

 presented in herbaria as dried specimens. Such a work is the 

 business of men of science, and, moreover, it would be beyond the 

 subject of this lecture. Suffice it to state that the genus Gladiolus, 

 one of the finest and most popular of the Iridaceous family, 

 numbers about ninety species, all belonging to the flora of the 

 Old World. Though the greater part of them, and the most 

 beautiful, are natives of South Africa, some are to be found in 

 South Europe : one, for instance, G. illyricus, grows naturally 

 as far northward as England ; some others exist in Persia and 

 Afghanistan, in the oriental regions of Africa, and in the island 

 of Madagascar. 



Gladiolus communis, a native of Mediterranean Europe, is 

 often met with in private gardens along with the Gladiolus of 

 Constantinople (G. byzantinus), both introduced into Western 

 Europe about two centuries ago. They are perfectly hardy, and 

 their cultivation requires no special care. From the middle of 

 last century travellers began to introduce from the Cape of Good 

 Hope a great many species, among which may be mentioned 

 G. angustus, brevifolnis, blandus, campanulatus, cruentus, 

 Ctmonia* cuspidatus, dracocephalus, edulis, elatus, gracilis, 

 hastatus, hirsutus, involutus, naviaquensis, Milleri, quadrangu- 

 laris,*recurvus, sulphureus, trichonemifolius, trimaculatus , tristis, 

 undulatus, versicolor, viperatus, Watsonius, &c. Nearly all 

 these species offered to amateurs have but a merely scientific 

 interest ; therefore it is no wonder if the greater part of them 

 * Cunonia and O. quadrangular is belong to the genus Antholyza. — Ed. 



