M. polystachya 
Slender plant 18 to 24 inches high with many 
wiry branches. Well covered with flowers 
looking at a distance like a close group of 
butterflies. The outer segments of the flowers 
are light mauve, penciled with Parma violet, 
with a bright yellow spot at the base, inner 
segments light mauve with little penciling. 
Starts flowering six weeks after planting and 
keeps on three to four months. Blooms can be 
had throughout the year in the milder cli- 
mates by making successive plantings about 
every two months. 
Very useful in the colder climates as a win- 
dow pot plant in the winter and out of doors 
in the spring and summer as soon as danger 
of heavy frosts is over. 
Planted in clumps it provides a mass of color 
over a long period and should be very useful 
in the border especially as a supplementary 
plant in iris gardens. Corms can be held in 
cold storage at 40 degrees to make successive 
plantings over a long period, although corms 
treated this way sometimes wait until their 
normal growing period before starting. De- 
livery August. 
$50.00 per 1000 
M. ramosa 
New introduction from South Africa. Stream- 
side plant which likes plenty of water and 
does not require a long dry rest period like 
many other bulbous plants. Blooms May and 
June. Flowers are an amber yellow and have 
a yellow oval surrounded by dark blue at base 
of the falls. Also has dark spots in the claw. 
Blossoms are about 2% inches in diameter 
and resemble those of M. polystachya except 
in color. 
Flower stalk is 4 to 6 feet high with many 
branches. Branchlets are thin and wiry enough 
to be almost invisible and the flowers look like 
yellow butterflies among the green branches 
of the flower stem. Individual blossoms open 
about 11 A.M. on a sunny morning and last 
twenty-four hours with a new group opening 
each day. ‘Green leaves at the base are not 
conspicuous. Flowers cut well and make a 
dainty arrangement in themselves, with new 
flowers opening daily for a week or two after 
being cut. Plants are large enough to make 
bold accents in the border without crowding 
smaller plants and are a distinct addition to 
the garden. Delivery early summer. 
$5.00 per 100. 
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