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Eucharis (From eu well and charis grace)

(from eu, well, and charis, grace; very graceful, a manufactured name). ORD. Amaryllideoe. A small genus of tropical bulbous plants, from New Grenada. There are five species known, all of which are in cultivation, and three of them taking rank among the most popular of stove bulbous plants. For their cultivation, a temperature of 65deg. to 70deg., rising to 80deg. in summer; and, except for a few weeks in autumn, an abundance of water always will be found suitable. The soil should consist of two parts rich loam to one of leaf mould and manure, with the addition of charcoal, to keep it open. Rather large pots are best, so as to allow the roots to ramify freely, and they should be inserted deeply. Half-a-dozen strong bulbs in a 10in. pot will be suitable for E. candida, E. grandiflora (amazonica), and E. Sanderiana, whilst for the others a 6in. pot for the same number of bulbs will be ample. Where grown in large quantities, the bulbs may be planted out in beds beneath which hot-water pipes are placed, though equally good results are obtainable if they are kept in pots and plunged in a tan or dung bed. If potted in good soil in the first instance, it will not be necessary to do more than top-dress the plants annually, repotting only when the bulbs are overcrowded. Liquid manure may be given with advantage, after the flower-scapes appear. If placed in an intermediate house whilst in flower, a longer display, and blossoms of better substance, will be the result. Offsets are developed rather freely by the bulbs when growing well, and if these be removed and potted up singly in 6in. pots, a good stock of plants may soon be obtained. After the leaves are all matured, less water, and a temperature a few degrees lower than that recommended for the growing period, will be necessary; always however, avoiding total drying off--treatment not essential to the free production of flowers, but likely to weaken the bulbs. When favourably situated, old-established plants of the above-named best kinds of Eucharis will bear two or three crops of flowers in the course of a year. Seeds are sometimes ripened on cultivated Eucharises, which may be sown as soon as ripe, in a warm house. E. amazonica (Amazon). A synonym of E. grandiflora.

E. candida (white).* fl. pure white, drooping, 3in. broad; corona very prominent, divided into six pointed segments, to which the stamens are attached; umbel six to ten-flowered on scape 2ft. long. l. solitary on each bulb, broadly elliptic, acuminate; petiole long, compressed, 1ft. long. Bulb large as a hen's egg, with an elongated neck. New Grenada, 1851. (F. d. S. 788.) E. candida (white). A garden name for E. subedentata. E. c. grandiflora (large-flowered). A synonym of E. grandiflora. E. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. pure white, drooping, 4in. to 5in. wide, borne in three to six-flowered umbels on erect scapes, about 2ft. long; corona tinged with green. l. several to a bulb, broadly ovate, acuminate, channelled, slightly waved and plaited; blade 8in., petiole 10in., long. Bulb egg-shaped, with a rather long neck. New Grenada, 1854. SYNS. E. amazonica, E. candida grandiflora. (B. M. 4971.) E. Hartwegiana (Hartweg's). This species, already described in this work under Caliphruria, should now be placed here. (B. M. 6259.) E. paradoxa (paradoxical). A synonym of E. subedentata. E. Sanderiana (Sander's).* fl. pure white, with filaments and inside of tube yellow, about 3in. wide; corona suppressed; umbels three to seven-flowered, on erect scape, 18in. long. New Grenada, 1882. Habit and foliage of D. grandiflora, to which it may be compared also in the beauty and usefulness of its flowers. (B. M. 6676.) E. subedentata (almost without teeth, in allusion to absence of corona). This is now the correct name of the plant described in this work as Caliphruria subedentata. SYNS. E. candida (of gardens) and E. paradoxa. (B. M. 6289.)