160 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
izer, Max Leichtlin, of Baden-Baden, 
Germany. 
Last year I received from my friend, 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, another celebrated 
hybridizer, a number of tropical African 
kinds. Among them G. Quartinianus, 
with dazzling red flowers having an or¬ 
ange-yellow throat. These flower in Oc¬ 
tober and November, at a time when all 
other Gladioli have gone to rest. They 
are all vigorous growers, and the stems 
attain to a height of from three to five 
feet. 
The Gladiolus also does best in half¬ 
shade, and the soil should be made rich 
with old cow-manure. The flowers are 
not of long duration here in Florida, and 
therefore the stem should be cut when 
the first flower opens. Placed in the house 
in a vase, all the flowers will open, and 
they last much longer in this condition 
and give much better satisfaction. 
THE AMARYLLIS FAMILY. (AMARYLLI- 
DACEAE.) 
The word Amaryllis sounds to me like 
poetry. No other word is so charming 
to my ear. The mere thought of it carries 
me away into the world of my ideals. 
Noble form, gorgeous colors, indescriba¬ 
ble beauty, refinement, delicacy, delicious 
fragrance—all these attributes are com¬ 
bined in the Amaryllis. I have given 
up the cultivation of Orchids in order to 
devote all my time, my undivided interest, 
to these plants. I came to Florida with 
the sole object in rny mind of growing 
and hybridizing Amaryllis. I bought my 
place in 1883 with the view to make the 
cultivation of Amaryllis my specialty. 
When I say Amaryllis, I mean the word 
in the broader sense of the Amaryllis 
family. This noble family comprises such 
superb genera as Amaryllis, Hippeastrum, 
Crinum, Hymenocallis, Pancratium, Is- 
mene, Griffinia, Eucharis, Haemanthus, 
Ammocharis, Buphane, Brunsvigia, Spre- 
kelia, Lycoris, Nerine, Vallota, Habran- 
thus, Zephyranthes, Cooperia, Clivia, Al- 
stroemeria, etc.—all names sounding 
familiar to those who take a deeper in¬ 
terest in floriculture, all very important 
and beautiful garden plants. Though 
closely allied to the true Lilies—which 
they not only rival but eclipse, alike in 
beauty and fragrance—they are of 
much easier culture, and flower more 
abundantly. 
I am sorry to say that I have not been 
successful in flowering the true Amaryllis 
or Belladonna Lily (Amaryllis Bella¬ 
donna) a native of South Africa. I am 
of the opinion that this is the most ex¬ 
quisite of all bulbous plants. It invaria¬ 
bly flowers in August, before the leaves 
appear; and the large finely formed blos¬ 
soms, varying from a delicate pink to a 
deep purplish rose, exhale a very strong 
and delicious perfume—the very ideal of 
perfumes. 
About ten years ago, I planted several 
hundred bulbs, partly on high dry soil, 
partly on lower land, and partly in a half 
shady position. All grew well and multi¬ 
plied rapidly and those on low ground 
flourished best; but not one bulb ever 
flowered. In Texas, and even much 
farther north, and also in California, the 
Belladonna Lily flowers profusely. Evi¬ 
dently it needs a heavier soil, or it may 
dislike our wet summers. 
The most valuable, the most gorgeous, 
and the most showy of all bulbous plants 
are undoubtedly the Hippeastrum species 
and hybrids, everywhere known as the 
Amaryllis. The scientific name which 
was given to this genus by Dean Herbert, 
the great Amaryllis specialist, means 
