Nigella
(a diminutive from niger, black; referring to the colour of the seeds). Devil-in-the-Bush; Fennel Flower; Love-in-a-Mist. Including Garidella. ORD. Ranunculaceae. A genus comprising about half-a-score species of curious, hardy, erect-growing annuals, inhabiting the Mediterranean region and Western Asia. Flowers white, blue, or yellowish; calyx of five petal-like deciduous sepals; petals five, two-lipped, with a hollow, nectariferous claw. Stem leaves alternate, cut into very narrow, sub-pinnate segments. Nigellas are of the easiest culture in any moderately good garden soil. Seeds should be sown in March or April, in the open border, in light soil, and the seedlings thinned out to 6in. apart. The species most generally grown are N. damascena and N. hispanica.
N. damascena (Damascus).* fl. white or blue, large, surrounded by a mossy involucre; sepals spreading. Summer. l. bright green, finely cut. h. 1ft. to 2ft. South Europe, 1570. (B. M. 22.) Of this there is a double-flowered variety, florepleno.
N. hispanica (Spanish).* fl. deep blue, with blood-coloured stamens, large, without any involucre. Summer. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Spain and Southern France, 1629. (B. M. 1265.) N. Nigellastrum (Star Nigella). fl. brown and green; petals sessile, spreading. July. l. very slender. h. 1ft. South Europe, 1736. (B. M. 1266, under name of Garidella Nigellastrum.) N. orientalis (Eastern).* fl. yellow, spotted with red. Summer. l. divided into long narrow segments, pale glaucous green. h. 1 1/2ft. Asia Minor, 1699. An inferior species, but very curious in both flower and carpels. (B. M. 1264.) N. sativa (cultivated). fl. bluish, destitute of an involucre. July. l., segments short, linear, diverging. Stem erect, rather hairy. h. 1 1/2ft. South Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, 1548. This plant is supposed, by some persons, to be the Fitches mentioned in Isaiah xxviii. 25, 27. (S. F. G. 511.)