November 24. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
BULBS. 
( Continued, from page 09). 
PHYCELLA. 
This genus is composed of very beautiful ilowers, all 
natives of Chili and Peru; at first, the specios wero 
mixed up with those of Habranthus on the one hand, and 
with Zephyranthes on the other, hut only provisionally 
tor a time. When the species increased, however, it was 
found that the group presented sufficient characters to 
distinguish them from these two families; and then Dr. 
Lindley separated them, and called them Phycellas, a 
a word that we might translate into “ Painted Ladies; a 
more literal translation is given in our “ Dictionary,” but 
I cannot help thinking that Painted Ladies was the real 
moaning intended by the author, upon this ground, from 
the Bella Donna, of Linnaeus, to Phcedranassa, or Gay 
Queen, of Dr. Herbert—that is, from first to last—most 
of the different groups into which Amaryllids have been 
divided go by the name of some celebrated woman. The 
author gives his translation of Phycella to be “ a purple 
pigment,” in fact, rouge, that kind of paint once used by 
these very celebrities to heighten their natural beauty. If 
one man calls up the idea of beautiful women by naming 
bis plants after them, and another man introduces his 
rouge among them, can we be at a loss to understand 
Bis real meaning? and if we cannot, I see nothing for 
it hut that Phycella means a Painted Lady. 
We all know that these Phycellas, or Painted Ladies, 
are, indeed, the most fickle of the race; hardy enough for 
our borders they certainly are; but to bring them out to 
the full sun, I mean to flower them, is more than most 
people can do, especially those of them which inhabit 
the lower plains in the North of Chili. They have one 
peculiarity not common to bulbs from the Western 
world, their roots die annually, like those of the Tulip, 
the Hyacinth, and the great bulk of South African bulbs. 
They will, therefore, endure to be taken up when at rest, 
and to be preserved in sand, or in some very dry place. 
They ought to be taken up not later than the end of 
August, even if they are quite green at the time; for we 
have proved, in practice, that that is the turning point in 
their whole management by which alone any of them 
vyill flower two years running. If it comes on wet with 
St. Swithin they are likely to keep green, and this 
autumn effort at prolonged growth is certain to hinder 
them from flowering in the following spring and summer. 
At the end of February, or early in March, their new 
roots begin to sprout like those of the Hyacinth in No¬ 
vember, showing clearly enough that that is the right 
time to pot or plant. Peat is poison to them. Naturally, 
they grow in poor, hungry soil, sometimes sandy, often 
hard and irony, and always on a hard rocky bottom. It 
was for them that I first thought of the slate shelf, with 
the inch of sandy soil for the roots to run in; this thin 
bed was constantly as wet as the place would hold, from 
the watering of pot plants, between which certain bulbs 
stood for experiment. Coburghias, Pliyeellas, Phcedra- 
nassas, and Leucocoryne, would grow and flower on this 
shelf better than by any other method I ever heard of; 
but a cool greenhouse seems too exciting to Phycellas at 
least, and in the open air, under a south wall, 1 think it 
is not safe to allow the roots to run deep. My firm 
belief is, that a great number of South American bulbs 
require a very different treatment from all others; that a 
temporary frame against a south wall is the best place 
for them ; that they should bo sheltered from early spring 
to the end of May ; and that the frame and glass should 
then be removed, and the bed to be more liberally 
watered through the summer than is our usual custom ; 
and also that the bottom of the bed should be impervious 
to the roots, at a depth of not more than four inches; aud 
I cannot think of any better plan than soft bricks or very 
porous stone to stop the roots. I am satisfied that ail 
139 
the bulbs which inhabit the lower grounds, from Valpa¬ 
raiso to Lima, will flower easier that way than by any 
other moans. There are bulbs in different parts of the 
world that require, or, at least, would flourish in an onion 
bed, other circumstances being favourable. Mr. Pince’s 
now Homan thus is one of them; aud vet it will do just 
as well on the shelf of slate, in almost fine sand, if the 
roots are constantly kopt moist. It was on that shelf 
that it first flowered in this country. 
PHYCELLA BIFLOEA. 
This is one of the most beautiful bulbs belonging to 
South America. The flowers are numerous, on long 
peduncles; they arc above two inches long, and as much 
across the opening, where the colour is of the brightest 
and most intense scarlet, with a shade of purple; the 
tube at the bottom is bright green, or greenish-yellow. 
The remains of the cup are divided into two or three 
sharp-pointed lobes between the stamens, and it is on 
this part of the flower that the main character of the 
genus rests. The remains of a nectarian membrane are 
manifest, in some shape or other, in all the Phycellas — 
that, with the folding-in of the perianth (convolute), 
when the flower is closed, are the two points on which 
the genus rests. This beautiful plant was exhibited 
before the Horticultural Society in April, 1838, by 
Mr. Tomard, now Her Majesty’s head man at Osborne. 
Mr. Tomard and I used to meet that season, once a 
month, in Wright’s Hotel, in the Strand, with the Com¬ 
mittee of the Oardeners Benevolent Institution; and 
that is how I recollect so well about the then newest 
and best half-hardy bulb in the country. 
PHYCELLA BREVITUBA. 
This is a most marked species, from the fact of the 
tube being all but wanting, “ scarcely more than annu¬ 
lar;” and, were it not for the private mark, Dr. Lindley, 
who founded the genus, would have been at fault with 
this plant. As it was, he remarked, when describing it, 
that “ it is a matter of no little difficulty to distinguish 
the species of this beautiful genus.” There are only 
four flowers on a scape; the flowers not much more 
than an inch long, owing to the want of a tube; they 
are scarlet, with an orange-and-scarlot bottom. It is a 
native of Chili, and was introduced by Mr. Knight, of 
the King’s Road, Chelsea, who first flowered it, and, pro¬ 
bably, some of the stock may be there now, in the hands 
of Mr. Veitcli. 
PHYCELLA CHLOEACA AND OBTUSA. 
These two must be cancelled; they are transferred to 
Phcedranassa, but the same general treatment will do 
for the two families. 
PHYCELLA CORUSCA. 
There is very little to distinguish this from ignea, of 
which it is only a variety, with a longer style, and white 
filaments. The flowers are a bright scarlet, and yellow 
below, aud upwards of two inches in length. The teeth, 
or processes of the cup, are longer than usual in this 
variety. It is a native of Concon, in the north of Chili, 
growing in poor, sandy soil. 
PHYCELLA CYETANTHOIDES. 
The peduncles are very short in this fine species, so 
that the flowers turn down without spreading out, as in 
the genus Cyrtantbus; hence the second name. The 
flowers are scarlet, but not so bright as in the varieties 
of ignea, and they are greenish-yellow at the bottom. 
From the close, drooping flowers, and the red stamens, 
this species is easily known by any one who can distin¬ 
guish a Phycella at all. It is, also, from North Chili, 
on the sandy hills, close by the sea, near Concon. 
