36 
BOTANICAX INDEX. 
plants exclusively, we will take the true Amaryllis section for our subject. The 
Agave is also seen to be classed in this family, which may seem very strange to any 
one not versed in botany, hut the scientific botanist finds a never changing law in the 
flowers and fruit of plants, that separates all plants into Natural Orders; for the char- 
acters presented in each plant are as clear to him as the letters forming the alphabet 
of our language are to the school boy. It is, in fact, a Botanical Alphabet, and the 
botanist reads ‘‘Order — Amaryllidacece ,” from the first Agave he finds in fruit or flower. 
We have devoted a large portion of the April number of the Index to an article on 
Agaves, (see page 4.) The flowers of the section we have under consideration are 
white, yellow, different shades of red, from soft rose to the darkest crimson, and all 
these colors blended together in stripes or zones; usually bell-shaped, sometimes 
drooping but oftener standing out horizontally from the stem, and produced in clus- 
ters or umbels of from ten to sixteen flowers together, but only three or four flowers 
usually opening at a time, and each flower lasting four or five days in perfection. 
These flowers are borne at the end of a tall scape or stem 12 or 15 inches high ; and 
the first flower stem is usually followed by two or three others in quick succession, 
so that a good plant will remain a long time in bloom ; and if the bulbs are not sepa- 
rated, but allowed to mature together, it often happens that half a dozen flowering 
bulbs are at the same time sending up their flower stems, represented by three or four 
flowers each, the effect of which is extremely brilliant. A few genera, however, pro- 
duce erect flowers — sometimes in umbels as before described, but often a single flower 
on a stem six or eight inches high, lasting only one or two days, but followed almost 
daily by successive new flower stems so as to be in bloom a large portion of the sum- 
mer, especially if not disturbed until the box or pot is full of bulbs. 
No written description can give as clear an idea of a plant or flower as a good pic- 
ture will do, and we have prepared a few cuts to illustrate the different characters of 
the several genera, which we are satisfied will repay the cost and trouble. Fig. 23 
represents the flower of Amaryllis Regina’, a good example of the true Amaryllis, and 
Fig. 22 shows a plant of same; but nothing short of a perfect lithograph could give 
an idea of its brilliant colors. Figs. 24 and 26 are taken from William Bull’s cata- 
logue, and well illustrate the peculiar form and make-up of Pancratium Rotatum and 
Crinum Pratense Canaliculatum, two superb species which, however, are very rare in 
the collection of choice plants of our country, especially in the Northern States, and 
these are usually in private collections, so that it is not often the mass of plant lovers 
ever get a sight of them ; in fact, they are nowhere a common plant, and in Europe, 
where nearly all the newly found plants are first sent, tne finer species are in the 
collections of the nobility and a few of the more wealthy commercial plant establish- 
ments. The reason for the scarcity of the Amaryllidaceoe in American collections is 
often explained by the difficulty of blooming them under cultivation, but if we study 
their natural condition it would obviate all our troubles. To bloom any plant suc- 
cessfully, we must first restore it to its natural condition as far as possible, and as 
collectors usually neglect to tell us all these particulars, it becomes necessary to ex- 
periment a good deal to learn how to treat them. 
The experience of European plant growers has been pretty well recorded by Sir 
Joseph Paxton, in his Botanical Dictionary, where he 
tells us: “The bulbs of the stove species should be 
turned out of the pots in autumn, and laid on the shelf 
or other dry place till spring, when they should be 
repotted and introduced into the hot-house, giving 
them as they progress plenty of water. A. reticulata 
and A. striatifolia will not bear turning out, but flower 
better by remaining in their pots all the year. The 
green-house species must also be turned out of the pots 
and dried, and in the spring potted and encouraged 
to flower. The soil should comprise equal parts of 
turfy loam and peat, with a fair quantity of sand ; the 
pots should be drained well.” 
Probably the largest and most successful Amaryllis 
grower in the world is Louis Van Houtte, and as his 
catalogues are probably not seen by a large portion of 
our readers, we will republish an extract from his 
catalogue on Amaryllis culture. He says: 
“In December, we shift them in pure leaf mould 
mixed with some sand, shaking off all the mould from 
the roots without breaking them, and use for that pur- Fig- 25 .— Vaiiota Purpurea. 
pose a little stick, by means of which we stir the mould sticking to the roots. We 
carefully cut out all rotten and broken roots and pass a finger under the disk ol the 
bulb to remove the deteriorated pellicles; but the lateral pellicles, that surround the 
bulb, never should be removed, even if they but slightly adhere to the bulb; for, as 
