THE GARDEN ALBUM AND REVIEW,. 
53 
DOG’S TOOTH VIOLETS. 
The Dog’s Tooth Violets do not belong, as 
the uninitiated would be apt to think, to the 
Violet family at all. Indeed they are far 
removed from Violets and Pansies, and are 
much more closely related to the Tulip, being 
known tO' botanists under the name of Ery- 
thronium. However, there is no accounting 
for the absurdity of popular names, and we 
must make the best of them. 
The common Dog’s Tooth Violet (Ery- 
thronium Dens-Canis) was at one time the 
only species grown in gardens. Indeed, it is 
the only member of the genus that grows in 
the Old World, being found wild in Central 
and Southern Europe, with a few varieties 
extending eastwards across Asia to Japan. 
All the other species are natives of the United 
States, and although they are not so vigorous 
in growth as the ordinary Dog’s Tooth Violet, 
they are, nevertheless, so charming in foliage 
and blossom that they well deserve a place in 
every good garden. 
The Dog’s Tooth Violets are bulbous plants, 
with more or less mottled, marbled, or spotted 
leaves. The flowers are usually nodding or 
drooping from upright slender scapes, having 
6 more or less recurved or spreading segments, 
6 stamens, and a 3-celled ovary—features 
quite distinct from those of the Violet proper. 
The Erythroniums are for the most part 
hardy ; indeed, the common one is perfectly so, 
and will flourish in most good garden soils 
that is well drained and manured. It comes 
up year after year, without the slightest trouble, 
and produces its beautiful rosy or violet purple 
flowers freely in March and April, well above 
the blue-green, purple-spotted leaves. The 
other species mentioned below, are still too 
rare to be treated in such a cavalier fashion, 
and they are usually grown in select spots in 
the rock-garden or border, or even in pots 
until the stock has increased. A light sandy 
loam, to which a little old cow-manure, peat, 
or leaf-soil has been added, makes a good 
compost for the plants. When the flowering 
is over in early summer the foliage dies away, 
the oblong or cylindrical bulbs remaining quite 
dormant in the soil until about February the 
following year. They are really best left 
undisturbed for several years, as the clumps 
will increase in size and continue to flower 
freely if a good mulching of well-decayed 
manure be given every autumn. When it is 
desired to increase the stock, the clumps may 
be lifted as soon as ever the leaves have 
withered. It will then be easy to separate, 
without injury, the off-sets from the older 
bulbs. Re-planting should be done at once as 
the bulbs, if left exposed to the air during the 
summer months are apt to shrivel a good deal 
and lose a certain amount of vitaliiy. 
The following are the species of Dog’s Tooth 
Violets at present known :— 
Erythroniuni albidim. —Flowers whitish, tinged 
with yellow at the base. 
E. bvacteatum is closely related, but has larger 
leaves and yellow flowers, which are of a 
deeper tint in the variety coloratum. 
E.amevicanum. —Flowers bright golden-yellow 
often tinted with purple, dotted at the base of 
the segments. 
E. citrinum .—Flowers lemon yellow, orange 
at the base. 
E. Dens-Canis. —The Common Dog’s Tooth 
Violet, with rose, purple, and sometimes white 
flowers. 
E. giganteum. —A showy species with large 
creamy white flowers suffused with orange or 
yellow at the base. 
E. grandiflovum .—Flowers golden yellow. 
Leaves unmottled. There appears to be 
several forms of this. 
E. Havtwegi. —Flowers creamy white, yellow 
at the base. Like grandiflorum but with 
mottled leaves. 
E. Hendevsoni. —Flowers pale rose, becoming 
deep purple in the centre, with a yellow base. 
E. Howelli .—Flowers pale yellow, orange at 
the base, becoming pinkish with age. 
E. Johnstoni. —Flowers bright rosy-pink with 
a clear yellow base. 
E. mesochoveum. —Flowers whitish, like those 
of E. albidum, but with spreading segments. 
E. montanum. —Flowers large, creamy white, 
orange at the base, appearing from July to 
September, much later than any of the other 
kinds. 
E. pvopidlans .— Flowers rose-purple with a 
yellow centre. 
E. ptiYpuvascens. —Flowers pale yellow tinged 
with purple, and deep orange at the base. As 
many as 8 flowers are sometimes borne on one 
stem. 
E. Yevolutmn .— Flowers pink or deep rose- 
purple. 
E. Smithi (or Bolandevi ) has white flowers 
with a yellow centre, and become rose-purple 
with age. 
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