70 
BOTANICAL, INDEX 
Another very interesting species is the Squills, — Scilla Maritima, or, ns it is 
now called, Urginea Maritima, nominaly from Algeria, Africa; but widely distrib- 
uted over the entire borders of the Mediterranean Sea. The bulbs are large and boat 
about from place to place, never losing their vitality bv the long sea voyage, but 
immediately, on being thrown upon shore, take root and grow luxuriantly, from 
which circumstance they have received the popular name of Sea Onions, from the 
inhabitants living in the vicinity. In an old work on Botany, now before me, I find 
the following interesting passage. — “They grow naturally on the sea-shore and in 
the ditches where the salt-water naturally Hows with the tide, in most of the warm 
parts of Europe; so cannot be propagated in gardens, the frost in Winter always de- 
stroying the roots, and for want of salt-water they do not thrive in Summer.”— This 
paragraph must be taken with a good deal of allowance in regard to salt-water, for 
bulbs in our greenhouses form immense clumps in a few years, each bulb being often 
three and one-half inches in diameter, and they certainly get no salt here. They 
will not, however, endure any frost. Our treatment of the bulbs is exactly similar 
to other tender bulbs. In the same work, I find : — “Sometimes the roots, which arc 
bought for use, put forth their stems and produce llowers as they lie in the drug- 
gists’ shops.” — The numerous, lleshy fascicles or coats forming the bulb, are filled 
with a viscous .juice, very bitter and acrid, 
and even corrosive, which contain a pe- 
culiar principle, called scillitine. The 
outer coating of the bulb is a thin, brown 
skin; while the fleshy, inner scales, in 
some bulbs are white, while others are 
of a dark color, and produce the Red 
Squills, an inferior drug, which, howev- 
er, were reputed to be the extract from a 
less valuable medical bulb, — the Scilla 
Pancration. The drug obtained from the 
white-scaled variety, is the only market- 
able one in demand. • Squills are also 
used quite extensively for tanning leath- 
er. 
But it is among the smaller and less 
pretentious species, we are to look for 
the real gems for the hardy bulb garden, 
this time. First, and most lovely, is Scil- 
la Siberia i, (Fig. 139.) a tiny little plant, 
from that far olf, inhospitable land, Si- 
beria, with small, deep blue, bell-shaped 
flowers, produced on numerous small 
flower-stems, appearing one after anoth- 
er in a shade deeper, but very similar in 
habit. Scilla Campanulata, (Fig. 140,) 
from Spain, is another gem of beauty, 
with deep blue flowers, but like many 
other varieties of plants, the flowers 
shade off into white ( Scilla campanulata I 
Fig. in. alba ) on the one hand, and into pink 
( Scilla campanulata carnea ) on the other. Unlike Scilla Siberica and Pra-cox, this va- 
riety produces a single spike of flowers, a foot or more high. Fig. 143 represents 
Scilla bifolia, a native of England, with a lighter blue flower, but with two varie- 
ties,— white (scilla bifolia alba ) and red (scilla bifolia rubra). Fig. 144 represents Scil- 
la Peruviana, from Spain, which was introduced into South America by the early col- 
onists, and so thoroughly naturalized, that subsequent travelers and collectors could 
hardly give up the idea of its being a native species. This species, also, has a violet- 
blue flower, borne in a miniature pyramid shape, on stocks about one foot high, and 
the two extra shades of flowers are also produced, i. e. white, (scilla peruviana alba,) 
and buff, (scilla peruviana discolor). Fig. 141 is the lovely Egyptian Hyacin th ,— Scil- 
la Xu tans, — perfectly hardy, and producing numerous flower-stems, one after anoth- 
er, in early Spring, with flowers from a deep blue to a soft rose, it is really one of * 
the most desirable species, and we are often surprised to note its absence in a choice j 
collection of hardy bulbs; but, where there are so many worthy things to select j 
from, of course many of the more serviceable plants are often neglected. The list 
of Scillas worthy of cultivation is a long one, and space would not admit of an enu- 
meration of all thespecies; suffice it to say, they are all worthy of cultivation, and 
we hope to see more of them in use as they become better known. 
Nearly all plants seem to have a standard or typical color for their flowers and 
