282 
FLORA AND SYLVA 
LAPEYROUSIA. 
It is always a gain to light upon plants 
that are beautiful and easily grown, and 
in this little genus we have several which 
have these merits and are new to most 
gardeners of the present day. They 
form a very pretty group of bulbous 
plants from the Cape and south-tropical 
Africa, embracing more than thirty 
kinds, of which perhaps only six or 
seven have been introduced, and these 
are now mostly forgotten. They are 
nearly allied to Freesia, with flowers 
similar in structure, composed of six 
segments, three of which are larger than 
the rest, and in many kinds they are 
arranged upon the flower- stem in the 
same one-sided or zigzag way. They 
have the same narrow sword- shaped 
leaf, but while the bulbs of Freesia are 
cone-shaped those of Lapeyrousia are 
oval or rounded and enclosed in a 
matted tunic, and their flowers are vari- 
ously coloured in blue or red, i to 2 
inches across, and (save in one kind) 
without fragrance. They are named in 
honour of Jean de la Peyrouse, a dis- 
tinguished French voyager, one section 
distinguished by its scanty foliage (re- 
duced to one or two basal leaves only) 
having been separated by some author - 
ities under the name Ovieda. 
One of the most beautiful and quite 
the most familiar of these pretty little 
plants is Lapeyrousia crueiita^ better 
known as Anomatheca, a dainty little 
plant in which the flowers are nearly 
an inch across and of a soft brilliant 
carmine touched with darker blotches, 
carried upon tough little stems of about 
6 inches and succeeding one another 
during several weeks. As an edging or 
border plant for light sandy soils no- 
thing could be more beautiful, either 
in lull sunlight or partial shade, where 
the flowers come later but are rich in 
colour. In warm southern gardens, 
especially near the sea, the httle bulbs 
are quite hardy and come up year after 
year on dry gravelly banks or rock- 
work, where they cangrowundisturbed. 
In winter a layer of litter or dry leaves, 
with a tilted pane of glass over the whole, 
is an added protection, and with this 
I care they seldom fail to pass the winter. 
In heavier ground they should be used 
in a prepared border and taken up after 
flowering, and in this way may be kept 
safely in a dry place till the following 
March. The season of flower varies a 
little with the time of planting and the 
spot selected for them, for while bulbs 
which Jiave grown undisturbed or been 
started early will often flower in June, 
others in colder places or when started 
late will bloom in July or August. In 
this way one may have a succession of 
flowers in the open or under glass, for 
all the kinds grow well in pots and are 
very gay for the greenhouse during 
August and September, while nothing 
brighter could be used for the front line 
of a window-box than a chain of L. 
crue?ita . After flowering, if under glass , 
the water should be gradually withheld 
as the leaves wither, and the bulbs taken 
up or put to rest completely by the end 
of October. Seed ripens readily, and, if 
sown early and grown on in gentle heat, 
the seedlings will flower the same au- 
tumn, though with criienta the bulbs 
are so cheap and increase so rapidly that 
