346 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
early in July the first blooms appeared, which proved 
to be those of Milla Biflora, a chastely beautiful flower, 
hitherto rare. The plant is of slender growth, having 
small rushy foliage and tall slender stems, each carry- 
x ng from one to five blossoms, starry in outline, with a 
waxy texture, and pure white. These lovely flowers 
were so numerous—hundreds being seen at one time— 
that the grower supposed his purchase would result in 
a large stock, which would have been an acquisition,. 
as there are but few flowers so beautiful, ancl that can 
be produced with so little trouble. The same treat¬ 
ment required for the Tigridia suits this plant ad¬ 
mirably, not only in its growing state, but when at 
rest. 
About the first of August other flower scapes ap¬ 
peared, which were of an entirely different character, 
and these proved to be Bessera Elegans (the subject of 
our illustration), a charming plant that contrasts finely 
with the former. It is strange that two plants so en¬ 
tirely different in their general characters should have 
foliage so nearly alike, that they were supposed to be 
the same. This plant is certainly one of the most 
beautiful of recent introduction, and must become a 
favorite with all lovers of flowers, particularly of the 
bulbous-rooted class. The flower-stems are slender and 
erect, from twelve to twenty inches in height, and con¬ 
siderably overtop the foliage. The blossoms are pro¬ 
duced in umbles of from ten to twenty each, but two, 
rarely three flowers expand at a time, but these last for 
several days, and are immediately succeeded by others; 
they are produced on very slender stalks, hence are 
drooping, and, being bell-shaped have a pretty effect. 
They are about the size of those of the African Lily 
(Agapanthus); the outward surface of the flower is 
a bright cherry-red, while the interior is white, with a 
border of red to each division, and a conspicuous line of 
red running through the middle of each—an arrange¬ 
ment of color rarely met. 
The next surprise in this collection of bulbs was the 
Calochortus flavus, another remarkable flower, and one 
well worth a place in every collection of summer flow¬ 
ering bulbs. The Garden says of this, “ C. flaws is 
certainly a pretty plant, elegant in growth and delicate 
in color. The size and form of the flowers are fairly 
well indicated; their color is a citron-yellow, and 
numerous blackish hairs of a bristly character cover the 
inner surfaces of the petals. The stems on which they 
are borne range from six to twelve inches in height, 
and the flowers are pretty numerous. This species has 
a peculiar tendency to produce numerous bulbils in the 
axels of the branchletson the stem, by which the plant 
maybe propagated.” 
Oxalis in three or four distinct species, tuberous 
rooted Begonias, and a charming little vine, that has 
not yet flowered, made up this interesting collection. 
While all the plants that have thus far flowered are 
truly valuable, the mixture speaks poorly for the Mexi¬ 
can collectors, who have sent them carefully marked 
Bessera elegans. If their shipments are all of this char¬ 
acter, buying bulbs of Mexican merchants is something 
of a lottery ; fortunately there were no blanks in this 
drawing. 
A BEAUTIFUL CLIMBER. 
The Mountain Fringe or Alleghany Vine, Adlumia 
cirrhosa is a very graceful climbing vine belonging to 
the natural order Fumariacece. 
It was first introduced into cultivation in England in 
1778. 
It is strictly a biennial plant, and makes but little 
growth the first season, but the second it attains a 
height of some twenty feet by as much in breadth, thus 
covering a considerable space with its delicately cut tri- 
pinnate foliage and ample pendulous cymes on which 
the pinkish-white flowers are produced. 
It is one of our most beautiful and graceful 
native climbers, and is the only species known ; it can 
be found growing in moist woods and rocky hills from 
Canada to North Carolina, but more especially in many 
places on the Alleghany mountains, where it grows in 
the greatest luxuriance, and from which fact the popu¬ 
lar name Alleghany Vine has been applied to it. 
As before said, it is a strictly biennial plant, and 
grows but very little the first season; neither does it 
climb until the second; then it flowers from June to 
September, and, after maturing seed, dies; but the rea¬ 
son that so many persons take it to be a perrennial is, 
that in damp situations the self-sown seed germinates so 
freely that plants can always be found in all stages of 
growth, and many of them ready to take the place of 
the old vines as soon as they die. The Adlumnia is a 
plant easily cultivated if certain essential requisites are 
complied with. It prefers a moist and partially shaded 
- * 
situation, and a deep soil well enriched with thoroughly 
decayed leaf mould ; support must be given before the 
plants commence to run. As the plant grows, the young 
shoots should be looked after and so trained as to oc¬ 
cupy the entire space, but the shoots need not be tied, as 
the twining foot-stalks act as tendrils, and cling tena¬ 
ciously to everything within their reach. 
A packet of seeds, which can be procured of any 
seedsman for ten cents, will produce an abundance of 
plants, and the seed can be sown early in April on a 
nicely prepared border, in a moist, shady situation. 
Sow the seed thinly, cover slightly, and keep the young 
plants free from weeds during the summer. In the fall 
the young plants can be removed to the places where 
they are wanted to bloom. 
When well grown and properly cared for, the Adlu¬ 
mia will be found to be one of the most graceful of 
climbers, having delicate, pale-green, tri-pinnate leaves, 
the leaf-stalks of which serve as tendrils, and although 
the small pink and white flowers are not individually 
conspicuous, yet they are not lacking in beauty, for they 
are produced in small clusters, and in the greatest pro¬ 
fusion. 
The generic name was given in honor of Major Ad- 
lum, a celebrated American author, and the specific 
name, in allusion to the fact of the leaf-stalks perform¬ 
ing the functions of tendrils. 
Chas. E. Parnell. 
Queens, N. Y. 
