Amaryllidaceae: Preceded by an Attempt to Arrange the Monocotyledonous Orders, and Followed by a Treatise on Cross-bred Vegetables, and Supplement

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Ridgway, 1837 - Amaryllidaceae - 428 pages
 

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Page 367 - I am inclined to think that I have derived "advantage from impregnating the flower from which I wished " to obtain seed with pollen from another individual of the same " variety, or at least from another flower, rather than with its
Page 367 - I have derived advantage from impregnating the flower, from which I wished to obtain seed, with pollen from another individual of the same variety, or at least from another flower, rather than with its own ; and as races of animals are known to degenerate, if they are perpetuated by the union of near kindred, it seems not unlikely that vigour may be given also to any race of vegetables by introducing a cross, though of the same kind, and especially from an individual grown in a different soil or...
Page 154 - ... frosts that may ensue, though they will endure a good deal ; and their habit is to flower after the leaf has acquired its growth before they go to rest. The Phycellas have been found difficult to cultivate, because they have been often set in peat, though they grow naturally in a sandy or strong soil on a dry rocky substratum, and proper rest has not been allowed them. They should be planted in light soil well drained, and be left dry from the moment their leaves show a disposition to wither,...
Page 342 - ... subdivisions are conformable to the secret laws of nature ; and will only confound him when his views shall appear to have been superficial and inaccurate ; while on the other hand, it will furnish him an irrefragable confirmation when they are based upon reality. To the cultivators of ornamental plants, the facility of raising hybrid varieties affords an endless source of interest and amusement. He sees in the several species of each genus that he possesses the materials with which he must work,...
Page 361 - ... followed by G. gandavensis var. citrinus, a citron yellow flower having a red stripe down the middle of each of the three lower segments. Dean Herbert, who at this time had had long experience in hybridizing gladioli, doubted the parentage of G. gandavensis as given by M. Van Houtte. He said (1837:365): "I have not succeeded in obtaining any cross, on the correctness of which I can depend, by admixture with Gladiolus psittacinus (Nathalensis), and I do not believe that it will breed with any...
Page 338 - Subsequent experiments have confirmed this view to such a degree as to make it almost certain that the fertility of the hybrid, or mixed offspring, depends more upon the constitutional than the closer botanical affinities of the parents. The most striking and unanswerable proof of this fact was afforded by the genus Crinum, which is spread round the whole belt of the globe, within the tropics and...
Page 361 - ... favorites with florists, when their beauty in the open border, the facility of their culture, and the endless variety which may be produced from seed by blending the several species, are fully known, nor will they be found to yield in beauty to the Tulip and Ranunculus. In 1837 he wrote as follows: The hybrid Gladioli, of which a large portion are sufficiently hardy, flower about the same time as the roses These hardy crosses are between G. Cardinalis, blandus, carneus, inflatus, angustus, and...
Page 144 - By its black shelly seeds. 3. The seeds not bursting the capsule prematurely. 4. The oblique mouth of the tube abbreviated on the under side by the deeper incision of the perianth. 5. The fourfold instead of alternate diversity of the segments. 6. The fourfold instead of alternate insertion. 7. The fourfold instead of alternate length of the filaments. 8. The nectareous beard, or screen, in several species. 9. The germen sloped from the peduncle. 10. The tube sloped from the germen. 11. The constriction...
Page 361 - ... Gladioli, of which a large portion are sufficiently hardy, flower about the same time as the roses, and contribute quite as much in general effect to the embellishment of the garden by their fine colours and profusion of blossom. They succeed very well in the natural soil of the garden at Spofforth, which is a good yellowish light loam, suitable for barley, and also in the artificial borders of peat and sand, where, however, in a dry summer they stand more in need of water. These hardy crosses...
Page 342 - ... He sees in the several species of each genus that he possesses the materials with which he must work, and he considers in what manner he can blend them to the best advantage, looking to the several gifts in which each excels, whether of hardiness to endure our seasons, of brilliancy in its...

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