THE SPECIES AND GARDEN FORMS OF CANNA. 



187 



& Co., of San Giovanni a Teduccio, near Naples, has lately 

 experimented largely with Cannas, and has very kindly sent 

 me a large series of specimens to illustrate the result of his 

 labours. These bring out more clearly than has hitherto been 

 shown that the forms of at any rate three out of the four sub- 

 genera can be made to cross freely with one another. Two of 

 the finest forms sent to me by Herr Sprenger he has obtained by 

 crossing flaccida with iridiflora. These have very large bright 

 green leaves, flowers about 3 inches long, a short corolla-tube, 

 long corolla-lobes, and obovate staminodia an inch broad. In 

 Amathusia the corolla-lobes are pale yellow and the staminodia 

 bright yellow with a few red spots. In Antigone the corolla- 

 lobes are reddish, and the staminodia have a plain bright yellow 

 limb shading off into a reddish claw. He has also raised 

 numerous hybrids between flaccida and forms of Eucanna. 

 Most of these have plain yellow staminodia, and resemble the 

 iridiflora x glauca hybrids. To this set belong Bacchus, Virginia, 

 Ithaca, Penelope, Andromache, Laertes, and Odysseus. Two of 

 the finest flaccida hybrids, which he has named Professor Michael 

 Foster and J. G. Baker, have brilliant yellow flowers, much 

 spotted and flushed with scarlet. Many of the forms he has sent 

 me are short-tubed hybrids between Ehemanni and forms of 

 Eucanna. Of these, amongst the yellow-flowered forms of which 

 glauca is one of the parents, are lutca grandiflora, Chameleon, 

 Aurore, albo-rosea grandiflora, Mdlle. Eose Lambard, and Sirius. 

 Amongst the red-flowered forms with green leaves are Ferdinand 

 Lambard, George d'Harcourt, Antoine Crozy, Professeur Charg- 

 nerand, and Souvenir de Francois Gaulin. Diana and Ceres 

 have red staminodia with a yellow claw. Astrsea is a very 

 fine hybrid between discolor and Ehemanni, with a large dark 

 purple leaf and red-yellow staminodia. Other hybrids between 

 discolor and Ehemanni are macrophylla marmorata, and Doyen 

 de Jean Sisley. And, finally, there are two hybrids between 

 zebrina and iridiflora called Laforcarelle and Edouard von 

 Piegel. 



Summary. 



Pure Species. — In considering the origin of the ordinary 

 garden forms the subgenus Distemon may be left out of account. 

 The species or forms of this subgenus have never been grown 

 except casually as botanical curiosities. The other three 



