The Big Crinum Family 
You will like the Crinums, the big brothers among the bulbs. They are friendly, 
companionable plants, not too exacting, in fact they are among the easiest and most 
long-lasting of all the select group. When you buy a Crinum, even more than in 
the case of a fine Amaryllis, you have something that will stay with you, will grow 
and bloom year after year, and will remain as an heirloom to hand down to your 
children and grandchildren. 
On old-time plantations we have seen Crinum bulbs which had stayed in one 
place in the garden for generations, with an occasional digging-up to remove offsets. 
These offsets are commonly planted in a row elsewhere on the grounds or in the 
garden until in a few decades a single bulb of Crinum may multiply until it has 
cast the spell of its flowery magic over a large estate or an entire country yard of 
spacious extent. 
There are also small Crinums, in fact we have one unidentified species which 
will bloom in a six-inch pot from a two-inch bulb, but most of them want a small 
tub or large pot, 8, 10, or 12 inch size, or even larger for the mature bulbs of some 
of the species and hybrids. 
But the Crinums have more advantages than mere bloom. They are ornamental 
in foliage, graceful in the sweeping flow of their long green leaves, and these be- 
come a most agreeable drapery to set off the striking umbels of bloom. The flowers 
are white and red striped, varying to wine, through, pink and purple, many of them 
perfumed and shaded with blushes and rose tints. Hence the name Milk and Wine 
lilies, by which many of the purple-red striped kinds are commonly known. 
Crinums are doubtless introductions which have multiplied in the lower South 
from Colonial times, brought in by hardy Spanish and French seamen and buccaneers, 
who had women folk ashore and picked up a bulb to take home when visiting in 
islands of the Southern Sea or the Far East. They are appealing, and intriguing, and 
one comes to love them, like a comfortable and well-worn jacket, in the course of 
time. Many of them figure as signicant tropical foliage motifs in the Southern 
landscape picture, especially the larger species, as Crinum Asiaticum and C. Amabile. 

CRINUM ASIATICUM, one of the most handsome and useful garden species of the Crinums. 
It makes huge bulbs, as above, two bulbs shown with a 4-inch Amaryllis bulb between them; 
right is a photo showing the large umbel and general foliage effect of this important landseape 
and garden subject. Flowers pure white. Bulbs up to 8 inches in diameter and 15 or 20 pounds 
weight. Leaves 3 to 5 feet long at maximum. 
