January  9,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
33 
BrunsYigia  grandiflora. 
Half  a  century  ago  the  older  botanists  included  Brunsvigias 
with  the  Amaryllis,  and  wrote  of  them  as  though  they  belonged 
to  the  same  genus.  The  Brunsvigias  may  rightly  enough  be 
called  first  cousins  to  the  Bella-donna  Lily,  to  which  they 
approximate  in  all  characters.  Bninsvigia  is  a  complimentary 
name,  given  in  honour  of  the  noble  family  of  Brunswick,  from 
which  our  King  is  a  descendant.  Brunsvigia  grandiflora,  which 
we  here  illustrate  from  a  sketch  made  by  Mr.  George  Shayler, 
and  commonly  called  the  Candelabra  Flower,  was  shown  in  flower 
last  August  at  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society. 
It  then  received  an 
Award  of  Merit.  We 
find  it  described  in  the 
newly  issued  Journal 
of  the  Society  thus : 
“  Award  of  Merit  to 
Brunsvigia  grandiflora 
(votes  unanmious), 
from  Messrs.  Paul, 
Oheshunt.  A  very  un¬ 
common  bulbous  plant, 
introduced  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  in 
1829.  Leaves  long, 
flat,  2in  broad,  pale 
green ;  scape  20in  high, 
terminating  in  an 
umbel  of  smgle  rosy- 
pink,  bell-shaped 
flowers  2iin  long  and 
as  much  across.” 
We  show  the  plant 
(reduced)  as  it  was  re¬ 
presented  at  the  meet¬ 
ing  we  speak  of ;  also  a 
deteched  flower  of  the 
natural  size.  The 
bulbs  are  much  larger 
than  those  of  Bella¬ 
donna,  and  if  they  are 
left  above  ground,  or 
half  out  of  the  soil  in 
the  pot,  they  never  do 
much  good.  They  like 
very  strong  loam,  but 
no  manure  mixed  with 
it.  If  the  pots  are  well 
drained,  as  they  ought 
to  be,  you  can  hardly 
give  them  too  much 
water  in  winter.  Some 
gardeners  place  them  in 
hothouses,  thinking  to 
hurry  them  on ;  but, 
being  of  a  noble  race, 
they  resent  this  tres¬ 
pass  on  their  dignity— 
they  must  have  their 
own  way.  It  is  true 
they  make  a  very  rapid 
growth,  like  all  the 
bulbs  of  South  Africa, 
in  their  native  wilds, 
as  they  can  only  grow 
during  the  rainy  sea¬ 
son,  which  in  that 
country  is  not  much 
above  three  months  in 
the  year,  and  when  the 
rains  are  over  they  are 
almost  baked  with  the 
drought ;  and  we  ought 
to  imitate  that  dry 
heat  as  much  as  possible  when  they  are  at  rest  with  us,  by  placing 
the  pots  where  the  sun  strikes  hottest  about  the  premises. 
There  is  another  peculiarity  belonging  to  them,  which  puzzled 
all  the  gardeners  for  many  years.  Their  ro'ots  never  die  of 
themselves,  and,  if  they  meet  with  no  accident,  will  penetrate 
down,  in  the  course  of  years,  beyond  the  influence  of  the  annual 
droughts,  and  at  that  depth  they  have  some  moisture,  more  or 
less,  all  the  year  round.  Now,  one  could  hardly_  believe  that 
we  could  imitate  this  part  of  their  natural  condition.  If  we  j 
put  the  pots  in  saucers  when  they  were  dry,  and  give  a  little  i 
water  noAv  and  then,  we  could  not  so  regulate  the  supply  as  to  ^ 
prevent  the  soil  imbibing  part  of  it;  and  the  soil  cannot  be  too  i 
dry  when  they  are  at  rest.  Many  experiments  failed,  and 
hundreds  of  bulbs  were  destroyed  before  we  overcame  this  diffi-  j 
culty;  and  it  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world  after  all,  merely 
placing  the  pots  in  deep  saucerS,  and  2in  wider  all  round  than 
the  pot,  then  filling  them  brimfull  of  sand,  and  by  only  keeping 
this  sand  moist,  the  bottoms  of  the  pots  are  kept  uniformly 
damiA  ;  and  thus  the  best  part  of  the  roots  are  kept  from  drying 
too  much,  while  the  bulbs  are  as  dry  as  our  climate  can  make 
them,  and  the  treatment  is  so  near  to  their  natural  condition 
that  they  flower  regularly  under  it.  In  1844,  1845,  and  1846 
large  assortments  of  these  came  from  the  Cape,  some  of  them 
not  in  the  best  condition.  After  establishing  them  in  pots,  they 
Avere  planted  in  a  border  in  the  open  air,  from  Avhich  frost  Avas 
kept,  and  most  of  them  recovered  and  flowered.  A  I’ainy  season 
seems  to  suit  them;  and  yet  in  dry  seasons  they  do  not  like  to 
be  Avatered  all  over  their  leaves,  only  at  the  roots. 
There  are  many 
kinds  of  bulbs  from 
the  Cape  Colony,  near 
relations  to  Amaryllis, 
which  will  all  da 
under  the  above  treat¬ 
ment  ;  and  one  pecu¬ 
liarity  belonging  to 
them  is  their  dislike 
to  close  confinement, 
and  yet  they  are  fond 
of  heat.  They  also 
require  their  roots  to 
be  three  years  old  be¬ 
fore  they  will  flower ; 
so  that  Avhen  once  they 
are  disrooted,  no  mat¬ 
ter  hoAV  old  the  bulbs 
may  be,  it  will  take 
three  years  to  estab¬ 
lish  them  again.  We 
often  see  large  im¬ 
ported  bulbs  of  them 
flower  a  feAV  months 
after  their  arrival ;  but 
such  floAvers  were 
formed  before  they 
were  disturbed  in 
Africa,  and,  of  course, 
had  nothing  to  do 
Avith  our  kind  of  culti¬ 
vation. 
We  think  that  the 
whole  tribe  of  half- 
hardy  bulbs  open  a  fine 
field  for  the  improving 
hand  of  leisured 
amateurs.  During  half 
a  century  that  has  past 
we  see  what  Mr.  J. 
Heal,  of  Veitch’s,  and 
others  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  haAm 
accomplished  in  the 
production  of  those 
splendid  new 
Amaryllis  (or  Hippe- 
astrums)  Avhich  genus 
is  noted  in  the  fore¬ 
going  text.  All  that  is 
required  for  the  suc¬ 
cessful  culture  of  the 
majority  of  this  class 
of  bulbs  is  a  good  green¬ 
house,  one  fit  for  such 
bulbs  as  groAV  in  winter, 
and  another  fit  for 
those  which  make  their 
growth  in  summer, 
good  peat,  loam,  and 
sand,  from  which  dif¬ 
ferent  degrees  of  com¬ 
post  can  be  made,  and 
last,  a  good  stock  of  patience  and  perseverance,  Avhich  is  very 
essential  in  all  phases  of  gardening.  Amongst  the  subjects  that 
might  be  suggested  would  be  Sprekelias  (or  Jacobsea  Lily), 
Sparaxis,  Watsonias,  Ixias,  the  Bella-donna  Lily  (to  assure  a 
hardier  family  and  greater  number  of  varieties) ;  the  Guernsey 
Lilies,  Vallotas,  Hypoxis,  and  other  genera  which  stand  in  near 
relation  to  the  foregoing,  though  they  may  not  be  strictly 
classified  as  bulbous. 
Pears  at  8d.  Each. 
A  tall  price  this,  yet  good  sepcimens — large,  juicy,  thoroughly 
ripened,  and  unblemished  of  the  Californian  Easter  Beurres  are, 
or  were  last  week,  offered  at  from  5d.  up  to  8d.  each  in  the 
Central  Row,  Covent  Garden.  Blemished  Beurre  Pears  even 
fetched  2d.  each ;  others,  4d.  per  lb. 
BRUNSVIGIA  GRANDIFLORA,  THE  CANDELABRA  FLOWER. 
Detached  elower  natural  size.  Introduced  from  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  1829. 
