118 
A FEW FLOWERS 
XEROPHYLLUM ASPHODELOIDES. 
Xerophyllum Asphodeloides 
(Turkey’s Beard). 
A tuberous-rooted native plant with the aspect of an 
Asphodel, very interesting and beautiful. It forms a 
spreading tuft of grassy leaves when well grown, and 
bears a flower-stem from one foot to three feet high, 
terminated by a compact raceme of numerous white 
blossoms. 
“Turkey’s Beard is one of those old-fashioned plants 
that are rare in gardens. Two splendid masses were 
exhibited by Lord Walsingham, of Merton Hall, at the 
recent Royal Botanic show, and were the prettiest things 
among hardy flowers.”— Garden. 
Given an award of merit by the Royal Horticultural 
Society on June io, 1890, and at a previous exhibition 
it was given a first-class certificate. Strong tubers 
25 cents each ; $2 per dozen. 
Rare Water-Lilies and Other Aquatics. 
Victoria Regia. 
This giant Water-Lily of the river Amazon is the grandest of all aquatics. That it may be successfully grown and 
flowered in the open air in this latitude, we have proved beyond a doubt, having done so for several seasons past. By 
this plan it is treated as a tender annual. In winter, or early spring, seeds are placed in water, kept uniformly at a tem¬ 
perature of from 80° to 90°. After germinating, they are potted and shifted on, as they require it. Early in June 
a plant is placed in a bed of very rich soil in a tank, fully exposed to the sun, and which can be artificially heated until 
hot weather sets in. It produces leaves six feet across, one plant covering a space thirty feet in diameter. The flowers 
arc from twelve to sixteen inches across. The first night that they open they are a lovely white and emit a delicious 
perfume, resembling that of pineapples, which is often perceptible some rods distant. The second night the flowers 
have changed to pink and have lost their perfume. In the Southern States it maybe grown with complete success in 
open ponds. Plants $10 each. Fresh and sound seeds, 50 cents each ; $5 per dozen. 
Nelumbium. 
These wonderful plants, though mostly coming from tropical and semi-tropical regions, have proven to be entirely 
l ardy in this country, enduring any degree of cold short of actual freezing. They may be grown and flowered in a large 
tub, or in a cement basin sunk in the ground, where the water is twelve or fifteen inches deep. 
Nelumbium Album Grandiflorum (White Lotus). An ex¬ 
ceedingly beautiful variety, producing large bold flowers of a pure 
white color. $4 each. 
N. Nuciferum Album Striatum. The flowers of this are white, 
the edge of each petal irregularly marked and splashed with crimson. 
$2.50 each. 
N. Nuciferum Roseum. Flowers of a uniform deep rose pink 
color, much darker than Speciosum. First size, $3 each ; second 
size, $2 each. 
N. Luteum (American Lotus). Though a native of this coun¬ 
try, it is not common. There is scarcely any difference between this 
and N. Speciosum, except in the color of the flowers, which are of a 
rich sulphur yellow. They are as large as a quart bowl, and have a 
strong fragrance, entirely unlike that of a Nymphsea. Still, warm 
water and a very rich soil are the conditions for success with 
these noble plants. A large patch of them, with hundreds of 
flowers and buds, is a sight never to be forgotten. Tubers, $1.50 
each. 
