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ANTHOLYZA

Volume 1 · 344 words · 1778 Edition

a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the triandra class of plants, for which there is no English name.

Species. 1. The ringens, whose flower-slips spread at the base. This has red, round, bulbous roots, from which arise several rough furrowed leaves, near a foot long, and half an inch broad: between these comes out the flower-bud immediately from the root, which rises two feet high, is hairy, and has several red flowers coming out on each side. These appear in June, and the seeds ripen in September. 2. The spicata, with narrow furrowed leaves, is in shape and size like the vernal crocus, but the outer skin is thin and white; from this arise five or six long narrow leaves, which are deeply furrowed. Between these arise the flower-stem, which is a foot and an half high, bending on one side towards the top, where the flowers come out on one side, standing erect. They are of a white colour, appear in May, and the seeds ripen in August. Both these species are natives of Africa, from whence their seeds were first obtained, and raised in the Dutch gardens.

Culture. The antholyzas may be propagated by offsets, which it sends off in pretty great plenty; or by seeds, which are sometimes perfected in Europe. These should be sown soon after they are ripe, in pots of light earth; which, if plunged in an old bed of tan which has lost its heat, and shaded in the middle of the day in hot weather, they will come up the following winter: therefore they must be kept covered with glass, to screen them from cold, otherwise the young plants will be destroyed. They may remain in the pots two years, if the plants are not too close, when they will have acquired strength enough to bear transplanting; the proper time for which is in July and August, when their leaves are decayed. In summer the pots may be placed in the open air, but in winter they must be placed under a hot-bed frame.