in the purchase of single bulbs of what was then regarded a novelty or an acquisition. The extravagance manifested in our day in the purchase of Orchids and other rare and expensive plants seems parsimony as compared with that of the Tulipfanciers a couple of hundred years ago. We do occasionally hear of an Orchid that will not be sold for a hundred pounds, but we do not hear that it has met with a purchaser at that price; and yet that is a trifle when compared with the sums (often as much as £500) given for the bulb of a Tulip in those days. That must have been the kind of extravagance that suggested the adage about a fool and his money, if it did not exist before; for it is difficult to believe that any one in the possession of his senses could have been satisfied with such a bargain. The varieties of florists' Tulips can now be had at a very cheap rate, and are admirable materials for introducing into mixed borders, shrubbery margins, and the spring flower-garden on the "bedding" or massing plan. They are the progeny of T. Gesneriana, a species indigenous to the Levant and southern Europe. The Van Thol Tulips are the varieties of T. suaveolens, a native of southern Europe, and they too are gay subjects for the spring flower-garden and for indoor embellishment in pots in winter and spring. There are other species of Tulips less showy than the varieties of these two species, perhaps, but not less attractive in their simple and less pretentious beauty; and it is to some of these, as selected below, that I would draw attention, rather than the gorgeous beauties that cost so dear in past times. They are all hardy, and easily cultivated in rich light loam well drained, and are increased by offsets, but they are best left undisturbed for several years. They like warm sunny positions best, and are available for the front lines of mixed borders, rockwork, and suchlike positions. Division and replanting should take place immediately after the leaves decline.

T. Celsiana (Cels's T.)-This species grows from 6 to 12 inches high. The leaves are glaucous, channeled, and shorter than the flower-scape. The flowers are yellow inside, greenishbrown externally, and the petals are sharply lance-shaped and spreading when fully expanded. Flowers in May and June. Native of southern Europe, in Montpelier and Narbonne.

T. Clusiana (Clusius's T.)—A charming species, about the same stature as the last. The bulbs are small and covered with down. The stems are erect, and exceed the length of the leaves, which are narrow lance-shaped. The flowers exceed in size those of the last species. The petals are broader lanceshaped, reddish externally,—the three outer ones white on the

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inner face, the three inner ones purple and white,—and a deep purple spot marks the base of each petal. Found about Nice, Florence, and the south of France. Flowers in April and May. T. montana (Mountain T.)—A very brilliant and distinct species, growing about 9 inches high. It has slender leafy The leaves are narrow lance-shaped, sharply pointed, and deeply glaucous and channeled. The petals are eggshaped, sharp-pointed, deep crimson or scarlet, and spreading. They open in early summer. Native of Persia.

stems.

T. præcox (Early-flowering T.)-This species grows about 9 inches high. It has stout erect stems. The leaves are broadly lance-shaped, concave, and fringed with hairs. The flowers are erect; the petals concave; the three outer furnished with short sharp points, and fringed with hairs-the three inner are blunter, and destitute of the fringes. All are bright scarlet, and open in April. Native of Italy, about Provence.

Veratrum.-A small genus of plants, remarkable for the unique style of their leaves and the elegance of their branching racemose inflorescence. Individually the flowers are small, but collectively they are, in combination with the peculiar character of the leaves, striking and effective when well placed among other mixed herbaceous plants. They are adapted for background plants in any position, being tall and bold in character, and for foliage or "subtropical" gardening they are among the best subjects we have of a hardy nature. They are suitable also for naturalising in warm well-drained positions in open woods and about shrubberies. A deep, rich, well-drained loam is the soil they prefer above all others; but, provided the drainage and depth are good, the texture and components are of less moment. In poor thin soil, however, they never develop their foliage well; and as the foliage is their principal attraction, they should not be attempted in such soil. They are propagated by division and by seed-the latter should be sown as soon as possible after ripening in small pots in a cold frame, when they will germinate freely the following spring; but if kept long in dry store after they are ripe, they lose vitality. Division is best done in early spring, and should be carefully gone about, taking care to secure fibres with each crown.

V. album (White Hellebore).-The common name is not a very correct one to apply to a plant of this natural order, but its leaves ground to powder yield the White Hellebore which is so potent a remedy against caterpillar on the gooseberry. The plant grows about 3 or 4 feet high. The leaves are elliptical, much plaited and ribbed, and downy on the under side. The flowers are small, consisting of six spreading, greenish

white segments, and are arranged in erect branching racemes. They open in July and August. Native of mountain pastures in many parts of central and southern Europe.

V. nigrum (Black Hellebore).—This is even more stately and striking than the last species. The leaves are similar in form, and are plaited and ribbed in the same manner, but are broader and bolder every way. The racemes are less dense and more freely branched, and the flowers are blackish-brown. The flowers open in July and August, and the plant inhabits similar habitats to the last, but is more widely diffused in southern Europe.

Other species of Veratrum worthy of a place where their characteristics are valued, are V. viride, with acutely-elliptical much-plaited hairy leaves and green flowers, and V. virginicum, with simple racemes of rather large brown flowers, both flowering about the same time as the two first described, and both from North America, where viride is named Poke or Swamp Hellebore.

Yucca. This is no herbaceous genus-indeed it is in some species rather arborescent than herbaceous; but not a few of the forms comprised in it are hardy, and adapted by stature and appearance to association with herbaceous plants, and to other special purposes noticed in these pages. They are not freeflowering plants; and there is no certainty of enjoying their flowers often in a lifetime, especially in the northern districts of Britain. Their chief recommendation for ornamentation is their foliage and style of growth, both of which are peculiar amongst hardy plants. The Y. gloriosa is the best known of the family in British gardens, and furnishes a good general idea of the appearance of the whole of the members; but some are less arborescent, making little or no stem-others are the opposite, and make considerable stems with greater rapidity than that species; but in all there is the same character of leaves, linear and aloe-like, and more or less rigid, varying chiefly in length, breadth, and substance, in the relative direction they assume with regard to that of the stem, whether they are erect or ascending, horizontal or more or less recurved-and in the nature of the margin, whether it is entire or furnished with thread-like appendages. In all, the flowers are nearly the same in colour, yellowish-white, and are produced in simple or branching racemes. They are easily cultivated, preferring light, rich, sandy, well-drained soil, and succeeding badly in heavy clay, especially if wet. They are propagated by suckers, which in some species are freely produced after flowering, and in others more or less freely at all times. Those with simple unbranching stems, and

with little or no tendency to make suckers, are propagated by cuttings a slow process, on account of their unwillingness to branch, even when cut over for that purpose. Cuttings root very freely, but can never be had in great abundance. Seed, when they can be got, will be the readiest way of getting up a stock of any of the sorts; but British-ripened seed of Yuccas will ever be rare out of doors at least, owing in part to the lateness of the season at which they flower, and in part also to the unfrequency with which they do flower. Besides being useful for associating with mixed herbaceous plants, Yuccas are very characteristic subjects for introducing singly or in groups, for associating with other striking plants about lawns, or for planting on or in the neighbourhood of rockwork; and they may also be introduced into groves where the soil and other circumstances are favourable. With the exception of Y. flaccida and Y. gloriosa, I cannot speak with any confidence of the hardiness of the others in the following selection in the north. Y. aloifolia, Y. angustifolia, and Y. filamentosa, are occasionally used for filling vases, &c., in flower-gardens in Scotland; but they are generally afforded some kind of winter protection either in the greenhouse or vinery or shed; and they are so useful for such purposes that they are well worth protection, such as they require. But in most parts of England, especially in situations near the sea, all that are selected are hardy when planted out in the ground; but any of them, if used for filling vases, will require protection in winter, as their roots being more exposed in that way are liable to injury from frost. Y. aloifolia may be considered the least hardy of the selection.

Y. acuminata. This species does not produce much stem quickly, nor are the leaves numerous, though they are densely packed together. They are about 2 feet long, and nearly 2 inches broad at the middle, decreasing in width gradually towards the point, but more quickly towards the base. They are dark green, and slightly glaucous and concave on the upper face.

Y. aloifolia.-A very handsome species, producing numerous leaves less crowded than in the last. They are about the same length as those of the last, but are narrower, thicker, flat, or nearly so, and the margins are beset with minute teeth. There is a beautiful variegated form named Y. a. variegata. Native of the Southern States of North America and some parts of South America

Y. filamentosa.—This is a well-known species which makes little or no stem. The leaves are crowded, 11⁄2 or 2 feet long, and about 2 inches broad, deep green, and when young slightly

glaucous, and the margins are furnished with long twisted white threads. There is a handsome variegated form named Y. f. variegata. Native of the Southern States of North America.

Y. flaccida. This is also a well-known species, which, like the last, produces little or no stem. The leaves are 18 inches or 2 feet long by 2 inches broad, are thinner in texture than any of the preceding, and in the older ones becoming suddenly bent or broken over, in consequence of which the plant lacks that neatness which characterises most other Yuccas; the edges of the leaves are furnished with the threads of filamentosa, but less abundantly, and they are not so clear white.

Y. gloriosa. Another well-known species, producing a considerable stem, but rather slowly, which is more or less inclined to branch. The leaves are 2 or 21⁄2 feet long, and 2 or 3 inches broad, generally concave, and marked with longitudinal folds or plaitings. They are very rigid and erect, or nearly so when young, but the older leaves are ascending, and scarcely at any time horizontal, and the margins are destitute of threads. Two varieties of the species are known in gardens under the specific names Y. superba and Y. glaucescens, and they may both be considered worthy of a place, as in point of foliage and habit they differ from each other and from the type to a considerable extent. The latter has deeply glaucous leaves, and is rather more luxuriant than the type; and the former has shorter and stiffer leaves, also glaucous, but is not so luxuriant as the type. Native of America.

Y. recurvifolia.-This species makes a considerable stem, which branches somewhat freely. The leaves are from 21⁄2 to 3 feet long, and 2 or 3 inches broad, in dense heads. They are thick and leathery, and dark green, and destitute of any threads on the margins. They are erect at first, but soon arch outwards and become recurved. Native of the Southern States of North America.

Y. rufo-cincta differs very little from the last in appearance, but has more or less distinct brown margins to the leaves.

PONTEDEREE.

Pontederia. A genus of aquatic plants with ornamental foliage and flowers that should be better known wherever waters are to be furnished with characteristic plants. There are three species well known to cultivation, though not often