BRODIÆA

(named after J. J. Brodie, a Scotch cryptogamist). S YN. Hooker a. O RD. Liliaceæ. Pretty, slender, hardy, or in some positions only half-hardy, bulbs. The flowers are usually borne in large clusters or umbels; the prevailing colour is blue; coccinea is, however, an exception, the flowers being scarlet. The scape is usually straight and slender, but strong. Leaves from two to four in number, enveloping the part of the scape beneath the surface, and procumbent thereon. Most of them are of easy culture in rich sandy loam; if grown in pots, a mixture of loam, leaf soil, and sand, suits them well. Increased freely by offsets, which should be left undisturbed with the parent bulbs till they reach a flowering state, when they may be divided and replanted in autumn.