11 6 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
September 12, 1903. 
tliis occasion. The same may be. said of Tulips, which were 
favourite flowers in the gardens of the florist and private 
grower in those days, and as much cherished then as at any 
other period, except when, the Tulip mania, raged, which we 
do not look upon as mere pleasure in connection with a simple, 
flower, but as a species of gambling. The number of Tulips, 
we must admit, has very much increased in modern times by 
comparison, with those of 300 years ago. We are not, surprised 
that this, should be so, seeing that their head-quarters are in 
Asia, and the facilities for collecting there are much greater 
than, in Gerard’s time. In, a wild state, it may be remarked 
that- Tulips frequently become so crowded that they do not 
flower freely, if a,t all, so that their presence is liable to be 
overlooked, except by a,n expert. 
The Star of Bethlehem and several other species of allied 
form were cultivated in, English gardens in those early times. 
Ornithogalum nutans, with its satiny green, and white flowers 
and great seed-pods, , was as, much admired in those days as it 
is to-day, and was knovm as the Neapolitan, Star Flower. 
Gerard speaks of it as being grown in the choice gardens of 
the South. In our opinion, it is one of the handsomest of the 
dwarfer-growing specie®, but, becomes rather an annoying weed 
in sandy soils, on account of the quantity of seed which it 
scatters about. In places where it, can be naturalised, how¬ 
ever, it is well worthy of the small amount of attention it re¬ 
quire® to become established, for the flowers are very durable 
in water, and can be cut with long stalks. 
We should not, have suspected that 0. araibioum would have 
been, cultivated so long ago,, seeing that it is not particularly 
widely distributed in gardens a,t the present day. Gerard 
spoke of it under the, name of the great Arabic Star Flower, 
and both hi® description and illustration showed it- to be the 
species we have just named. He said it was fair and tender, 
flowering in May, and we may remark that, it is chiefly grown 
a® a greenhouse bulb at, the present day. 
The common Dog’s Tooth Violet was cultivated under the 
name of Deg’s Tooth or Deins-caninus. It also had a white 
variety, which he termed the White Dog’s Tooth. He de¬ 
scribed where they were to be found in a wild state, and re¬ 
marked that they grew in choice gardens in this country. 
Evidently the large American specie® were quite unknown in 
those times, otherwise we should have liked to have known 
with what success they could be grown in England then. 
In those days the Crocuses were familiarly known as Saffron, 
and Gerard said that the best-known Saffron grew in the corn¬ 
fields in Cambridge and Saffron Walden. We are not- sure 
whether the author was speaking of them as growing in a. state 
of nature amongst the com, but if so the Saffron must have 
been extensively grown, even before that time, and afterward® 
neglected. The species chiefly grown for this purpose was 
Crocus sativus, a, large purple-flowered species which blooms 
in the autumn. It is still regarded as a, British plant, having 
gained a footing in those districts, no doubti owing to previous 
cultivation, and Saffron Walden takes its name from this fact. 
In those days they had single and double Crocuses, and 
figures are given of thirteen of them, though only eight are 
described. The author evidently got weary of finding distinc¬ 
tions between them, as the distinctions were so very minute, 
and in some cases species and varieties are very similar in 
colour, yet sometimes differ in structure. For further informa¬ 
tion concerning the species of Saffron he referred loveis of 
them to the gardens and books of the florists “ who are only the 
preservers and admirers of those varieties not sought after foi 
any use but delight.” From this remark it is evident that 
plants in those days were first of all regarded for their economic 
properties from a utilitarian point of view ; secondly, for their 
medicinal use® ; and thirdly, as. mere garden ornaments. 
In reading his book, however, one is liable to come to the 
conclusion that plants were chiefly valued on account of their 
medicinal properties. Every plant in those days was sup¬ 
posed to be of some medicinal value, and their properties were 
carefully described, though we are uncertain as to how they 
obtained their information. We rather suspect there had been 
a or eat amount of unscientific experiment, and not a little 
imagination. Some of the plants mentioned, of course, contain 
the properties ascribed to them, but these were few in pro¬ 
portion to the number that have now been proved to possess 
no medicinal value. 
Gerard also figured what he considered fourteen distinct 
species of Colchicum under the name of Meadow Saffrons, or 
Colchicum, and remarked that London gardens possessed most 
of them. Judging from the illustrations alone, we are sur¬ 
prised that so many of the species should have been cultivated 
about London in those remote times. 
New Trumpet Daffodils. 
(See Supplement.) 
Not all of the Daffodils to which we wish to refer on this 
occasion can be described as new for the past year, as some of 
Lilium Lowii : Flowers white, and spotted inside, 
(See p. 772.) 
them have been in cultivation for a longer period, but, all of 
tliena. mark improvements that have been ©fleeted amongst the 
trumpet Daffodils within recent times, while some of them are 
quite new. 
During the past sjiring we were able to get some flowers of 
several grand forms then flowering in the nurseries of Messrs, 
Barr and Sons at Long Ditton, Surrey. These we shall refer 
to in the order in which they have been numbered on our 
coloured plate. 
Mme. Plemp has somewhat: twisted white perianth segments, 
and a golden yellow trumpet of wonderful length and substance. 
It is also a strong grower, and holds its head up boldly when 
planted in the open, a feature not always possessed by some 
Daffodils that are otherwise fine. It attains a height of 16in., 
