Plate 223. 



ALPINE AURICULA — KING OP THE BELGIANS. 



This is one of the best of all the velvety crimson varieties, and has been repeatedly- 

 shown during the past Auricula season by Mr. Charles Turner of Slough, who is known as 

 one of the most enthusiastic and successful of all the raisers of these lovely flowers. The 

 following concise and essentially practicable directions for the successful culture of Alpine 

 Auriculas are from the pen of Mr. Henry Taylor : — 



" Pew spring flowers are more effective than these ; they bloom in April and May, and 

 are easily managed. A few shallow pans or flower-pots half full of crocks should be filled with 

 fine soil, consisting chiefly of loam from rotted turf, leaf-mould, and peat, or a fine sprinkling 

 of silver sand. Press the soil firmly in the pots and soak it well with boiling water, in order 

 to kill any small insects or their eggs that may exist in it. When cold sprinkle the seed on 

 the surface, and cover it very slightly with fine mould. Lay a cover of Moss on the top of 

 each pot to retain the moisture, and place them in a cold frame. Lift up the Moss about 

 once a week, and if the soil appears to be getting dry, which it never ought to be, pour some 

 water on the Moss, an operation which will not disturb the seeds. In about a month the 

 young seedlings will begin to appear. When large enough to handle, pot them off singly 

 into very small pots, using the fine compost already mentioned ; they will soon begin to grow 

 in earnest and require a larger pot. They must not be exposed to a scorching sun ; the 

 pots should now be plunged in ashes in a situation having a north aspect. Some of the 

 strongest seedlings will show bloom in the autumn, and as soon as the trusses appear, they 

 should be nipped clean out. When a bed has been prepared in October, by digging into it 

 some good rotten hot-bed manure, the plants may be turned out of their pots into it, about 

 8 in. apart. When the seedlings show their spring bloom, mark those that are good as to 

 colour and quality. Propagate the best by means of off-sets, and get rid of the others by 

 giving them to some neighbouring cottager, who will be glad of them." 



Plate 224. 



NARCISSUS MUTICUS. 



The common Daffodil is well known to be one of the most variable of all the species in 

 the genus to which it belongs, and the Pyrenean plant we now figure may be considered 

 as one of its most extreme forms. It is the latest to bloom of all the varieties of A. Pseudo- 

 Narcissus, both Mr. Barr and Mr. Ware having sent me fresh specimens in May last. After 

 the accompanying plate was prepared, I sent the specimens to Mr. Baker, F.L.S., at Kew, 

 our best authority on Amaryllids, and he at once recognised them as belonging to the N. 

 muticus of Gay. The perianth segments of this plant are much more spreading than in any 

 other Daffodil, and approach those of N. incomparabilis in shape. The most distinct charac- 

 teristics of the flower, however, is the extremely long corona ; the tube between the ovary 

 and perianth segments being extremely short. There is some difference in the size of the 

 flower, and in our plate we have introduced the largest and smallest we could find ; but 

 the long and perfectly cylindrical crown is so characteristic that any one may recognise the 

 plant at a glance. The leaves vary from a glaucus tint to a bright green colour similar to 

 those of N. Macleai. 



