HARDY BULBS AND TUBERS. 
249 
but the seedlings must not be interfered with for a year. 
Seedlings begin to flower when one to two years old. The best 
kinds to grow are : A. aurantiaca, golden-yellow ; A. chilensis, 
various shades of red and pink; A. lutea, yellow; A. pulchella 
(Syn. A. psittacina), crimson; A. versicolor, various colours, 
a hardy and easily grown species. Natives of China and Peru. 
Amaryllis (Belladonna Lily). — A bulbous-rooted peren- 
nial, belonging to the Nat. Ord. Amaryllidaceae. Coming 
from the Cape of Good Hope it requires a warm position and 
a well-drained medium soil. The best position in which to 
grow this charming plant is at the foot of a hot-house, vinery 
or house wall facing south. If the soil is not naturally well 
drained, dig it out to a depth of 3ft., put a good layer of 
brick rubble on top, followed by a layer of decayed cow manure. 
Mix the natural soil with equal proportions of leaf-mould, 
decayed manure and grit, and fill up the trench with this, then 
plant the bulbs 6Tn. deep and 8 to i2in. apart. Make the 
soil firm. Plant in September or October and cover the bed 
with fern litter or leaves as a protection from frost and heavy 
rains. Once properly planted, do not interefere with the bulbs 
for many years. The species — A. Belladonna — bears soft, rosy- 
coloured, sweet-scented flowers on stems a foot or more high 
in August and September, after the leaves have died. New 
growth begins in early spring and continues till summer, then 
the foliage dies. There are several varieties, of which blanda, 
with large white or pale flowers and longer and broader leaves, 
and pallida, very pale rose flowers, are the most noteworthy. 
Anemone.— See Hardy Perennial section (p. 94) for cul- 
ture of tuberous-rooted anemones. 
Arum (Dragon’s Mouth; Dragon Plant). — A genus of 
hardy, tuberous-rooted herbaceous perennials, noteworthy for 
their grotesquely formed and curiously coloured inflorescence. 
They belong to the Nat. Ord. Aracese. A. crinitum (Dragon’s 
Mouth) grows upwards of 2oin. high, has narrow-lobed leaves 
and purple-spotted stems. The flowers consist of a cylin- 
drical hairy spadix furnished with small blossoms, and sur- 
rounded by a curiously formed spathe, spotted or blotched 
with purple on the outside and hairy within. When fully 
developed the flowers emit a carrion-like odour. A. Dracun- 
culus (Dragon’s Plant) grows nearly 3ft. high, has lanceolate, 
veined leaflets, and stems marbled with black. The spadix is 
erect, brownish-red, and the spathe green outside and violet- 
purple on the inside. A. italicum (Italian Arum) grows 20 to 
24m. high, has hastate green leaves veined with yellow, a 
yellowish or creamy spadix and a green spathe. The two 
