nating the

1st. _angustifolius._
2d. _majalis._
3d. _biflorus._

The _angustifolius_ here figured is a native of the South of Europe, and
said by MAGNOL and CLUSIUS to grow spontaneously in the meadows about
Narbonne and Montpelier.

It flowers in our gardens early in April, about a month before the
_biflorus_, and full six weeks sooner than the _majalis_, increases
readily by offsets, and succeeds best in a soil that is moderately
moist. In what respects it differs from the two others, will be
mentioned when they come to be figured.

[Footnote 2:

Florida sed postquam venere in prata puellae,
His illa, haec aliis se floribus oblectabant;
Narcisso illa quidem bene olente, atq; illa Hyacintho.]

[Footnote 3:

Pro molli Viola, pro purpureo Narcisso,
Carduus et spinis surgit Paliurus acutis.]

[Footnote 4:

Nusquam corpus erat, croceum pro corpore florem
Inveniunt, foliis medium cingentibus albis.]

[Illustration]

[194]

FRITILLARIA IMPERIALIS. CROWN IMPERIAL.

_Class and Order._

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

_Generic Character._

_Cor._ 6-petala, campanulata, supra ungues cavitate nectarifera.
_Stam._ longitudine corollae.

_Specific Character and Synonyms._

FRITILLARIA _imperialis_ racemo comoso inferne nudo, foliis
integerrimis. _Linn, Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 324._ _Ait.
Kew. v. 1. p. 432._

LILIUM sive Corona Imperialis. _Bauh. Pin. p. 79._

TUSAI sive Lilium Persicum. _Clust. Hist. 1. p. 127._

CORONA IMPERIALIS. The Crowne Imperiall. _Park. Par. p. 27. tab.
29. f. 1._

The Crown Imperial, a native of the East, most probably of Persia, was
introduced according to DODONAEUS, into the gardens of the emperor and
some of the nobility at Vienna in 1576; it appears to have been
cultivated here as early as 1596: both GERARD and PARKINSON describe it
minutely, the latter on account of its "stately beautifulness, gives it
the first place in his garden of delight."

It flowers usually in the beginning of April; the whole plant sends
forth a strong unpleasant smell, compared by most writers to that of a
fox, perceptible when you approach it; to this effluvia PARKINSON
endeavours to reconcile us by saying that it is not unwholesome; it is
so disagreeable however, that few choose to have many of these plants,
or those in the most frequented parts of their gardens, yet it ought not
to be proscribed, for independent of it