LACHENALIAS. 



223 



and in some cases it is not protruded at all. It can easily be 

 reached by taking off a stamen with the filament, a method 

 which I always adopt in preference to a brush. The seeds take 

 from ten to twelve weeks to ripen, and should be sown as soon 

 as ripe. They are small, black, and shining, and generally 

 round, but those of L. pendula are gourd- shaped. They may 

 be sown as soon as ripe, and will be found to germinate much 

 more freely if placed in a temperature of 55 to 60 deg. Fahrenheit, 

 in which temperature they may remain until about the end of 

 February, which will be eight months from the time of sowing. 

 They should then be brought to the house in which the old 

 plants are grown, to finish off their growth and go to rest. 

 Next season they behave exactly as do the old bulbs, and they 

 should be treated like them. The third season they will flower, 

 that is in two and a half years from the time of sowing. It 

 would serve no useful purpose to give a list of all the species of 

 Lachenalia which have been described, more especially as I have 

 never seen many of them. My object has been to treat the 

 genus from a practical point, giving my own experience of it, 

 and stating what I was certain about, in furtherance of which 

 plan I now give a list with descriptions of all the species best 

 worth growing, of which I have seen fresh flowers. 



Before doing so I wish, however, to thank Mr. Baker very 

 sincerely for the great trouble he has taken in replying to my 

 letters, and in correcting the nomenclature of some species which 

 I sent to him. Mr. Baker has done much to earn the gratitude 

 of all those who take an interest in plants, and the kind and 

 unostentatious manner in which he places his vast accumulation 

 of knowledge at the disposal of inquirers, evokes towards 

 him generally feelings of respect and esteem. 



Lachenalia pendula, Aiton. — One of the best and most 

 distinct of all the species, and generally the first to flower ; the 

 flowers opening in December or January. It is one of those 

 introduced by Masson in 1774. It grows easily, and increases 

 freely. Its bulbs are larger than those of any other Lachenalia, 

 and in all its parts it is strong and fleshy. The two leaves are 

 broad, deep green, and brittle ; the upper leaf being smaller than 

 the lower leaf. Their edges are closely adpressed, forming an 

 erect cup, from the centre of which comes the scape. The scape 

 is quite ^ inch in diameter, green, passing into bright red at 



