290 
THE FLORIST. 
It will be found that the flowers of tlie hybrid Gladioli are 
4 ' 
formed on one of two models, whicli are tolerably constant 
and determinable in particular varieties. The flower is natu¬ 
rally made up of six divisions; its basis is a blunt-angled 
triangle; and the differences presented in the two groups 
just indicated, consist in the direction in which these imagi¬ 
nary or ideal triangles are set upon the stem. 
In one of these two groups, which we call the erect- 
flowered, the three outer segments—the sepaline divisions 
as a botanist would call them—form a triangle whose apex is 
erect, the upper division overlapping on the outside the two 
next, or petaline segments, and therefore occupying the posi¬ 
tion of a sepal. In these varieties the three petaline, or inner 
segments, form a triangle with its apex turned downwards, 
and the lower one is generally smaller and difiTerently coloured, 
forming as it were a one-leaved lip to the flower. The fol¬ 
lowing are fine varieties having these peculiarities of form :— 
Rembrandt. —Hich crimson scarlet, with a small purplish feather 
on the lower petaline segment. 
Napoleon the Third. —Orange scarlet, with the lower petaline 
segments (and frequently one of the others) creamy yellow 
about the centre, and marked with a crimson feather. 
Comte de Morny. —Fine rosy crimson, with a creamy tint on the 
three lower segments, and somewhat white feathered. 
Rl Dorado. —Light yellow, with rosy purplish feather. The best 
yellow is said to be Solfaterre, but we have not seen it. 
Princesse Clotilde. —Clear salmon, with the lower petaline seg¬ 
ment, or sometimes two, dashed and feathered with rich purple, 
the two lower sepaline divisions marked with a bar of the 
same colour. A finely marked variety. 
Jeanne JArc. —Blush, with the lower petaline segments feathered, 
and the two lower sepaline ones barred with rich purple. 
Oracle. —Deep salmony rose; the lower petaline segment creamy, 
feathered with purple; the two sepaline lower segments 
barred with purple; the markings are sometimes disposed 
irregularly, with respect to the sepaline and petaline divisions. 
Agl'de. —Salmon colour, dashed with scarlet streaks; the lower 
petaline division rich crimson; the divisions pointed; the 
flowers along one side of the spike are sometimes reversed. 
The other group to which allusion has been made is, we 
think, the more effective of the two, and has the flowers 
formed on an opposite plan. The two sepaline divisions which 
form the base of the (imaginary) triangle are on the upper 
side, and the one which forms its apex is on the lower, so 
that instead of pointing upwards, as in the first group, the 
sepaline triangle here points downwards. This group we 
therefore call reverse-flowered. The petaline divisions are 
placed so as to have one large upper and two smaller basal 
segments, so that in these varieties the lip-like portion con- 
