102 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to be heavily laid on or "plated," and to grow dull and dark with 

 age. These white-ground flowers with scarlet markings are 

 known as " Eoses." They are our fairest, gentlest Tulips, the 

 only class that has a sweet and English name (" Roses "), and 

 they seem to exercise a softening influence among their fellow 

 flowers — toning down the strong, fierce colours of the yellow- 

 grounds, and cheering up the spirits, so to say, of the dark, cool, 

 quiet, and sometimes almost gloomy flowers of the other white - 

 ground class. Varieties in this class are called " Byblcemens." 

 There is no great beauty in the word to English eyes or ears, 

 and only its first syllable is in common use with us ! The white 

 ground of the "Byb." has markings in various shades of purple 

 or violet, from light to almost black, and sometimes in a tone of 

 chocolate-brown. The nearer black, the richer and better ; but 

 any suspicion of red is disliked, as infringing upon the province of 

 the "Rose," and producing a kind of frontier flower, known as 

 the " rosy Byblcemen," because the line of class distinction is 

 not sufficiently kept clear. Such a flower may, in its latter days, 

 be exhibited as an uncertain Byblcemen, or if kept dark under a 

 flower-pot, be produced as a dubious "Rose " ! It is eminently 

 unsatisfactory either way. 



Tulips with a yellow groundcolour are termed "Bizarres," again 

 a foreign word ! The name, however, may be worth its signifi- 

 cance, as representing a class which, in its ground colour, is out 

 of line with its fellows, and in that sense " eccentric 7 or " bizarre." 

 This is a very large and powerful class, with black and brown 

 and scarlet marked flowers ; and, until some better sorts are 

 raised in the others, it will hold the reputation of containing the 

 greatest force of first-rate Tulips. 



All points considered, the best Tulip we yet have (at least in 

 circulation) is " Sir Joseph Paxton," a Bizarre hi both the 

 "flamed" and " feathered " state. Of these three classes, dis- 

 tinguished by the differences I have mentioned, each contains two 

 most important sections, formed by the two recognised and 

 distinct arrangements of the marking upon the ground colour of 

 the petals. As colours decide the class of the flower, so its 

 markings decide its position or character in that class. 



To be in perfect " character," the flower must be either 

 "feathered" or "flamed," as the two distinct styles of marking 

 are called. 



