14 
THE IXIA AND ALLIED PLANTS. 
prize, it will be a good one, because there 
cannot be many made from the very small 
stock in existence. Upon the whole, then, 
we come to the conclusion, that there has been 
very little done to improve collections beyond 
adding to the variety of " useful flowers." 
CULTURE OF THE IXIA AND ALLIED PLANTS. 
Ixias are among the most handsome of the 
smaller greenhouse bulbs ; but, notwithstand- 
ing this, they are but rarely met with in cul- 
tivation. This cannot arise from any real 
difficulty in growing them, for they readily 
submit to cultivation, and only require pecu- 
liar attention as to their growing and resting 
seasons : doubtless it is referable to that po- 
pular prejudice by which familiar forms excite 
a less degree of attention than those of a more 
novel character, for some years since these 
plants were more frequently to be met with ; 
or it may be that gardeners, at that time, were 
not so generally impressed with the import- 
ance of affording to all plants — and bulbous 
ones especially— a season of repose, and, in 
consequence, were not so successful with these 
plants as they might have been. 
Ixias belong to the natural family of Irises 
(Iridacese), and to the Linnasan Triandria 
Monogynia. The name is said to be derived 
from Ixia, bird-lime, in allusion to the viscid 
nature of some of the species. They are all 
natives of the Cape of Good Hope, whence 
bulbs are annually imported : it is said that, 
in company with other plants of a similar 
nature, which form the greater part of the 
vegetation in some situations, these plants 
spring up during the rainy season, clothing 
the hitherto barren plains as if by magic, first 
with a carpet of green, which is soon ex- 
changed for one of gay and varied colours. 
After the flowering season is past, the plants 
perfect and ripen their foliage, being assisted 
to do so by the moisture contained in the soil 
acting in conjunction with the bright light and 
heat of those latitudes : the heat of the sun 
being continued, while the supply of moisture 
is cut off until the next rainy season, the 
ground becomes gradually dried, and the 
plants are ripened off at the same time, the 
face of the country then becoming, as it were, 
again a barren waste. This natural mode of 
growth at once points out what should be the 
leading features of any course of artificial 
treatment to be successful in cultivating 
them. 
For the most part they are most conve- 
niently regarded as greenhouse bulbs, not, 
however, actually requiring to be kept in a 
greenhouse, for a pit or frame in which they 
can be sufficiently protected will grow them 
to perfection. In cases, however, where there 
is a greenhouse, it usually happens that there 
are situations, such as shelves and narrow 
ledges, where small plants of this nature can 
be placed with greater convenience than if a 
pit or frame were entirely devoted to them. 
