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The tender kinds in cultivation are chiefly from the Cape of Good Hope, although O. arabicum is found in the Mediterranean region. When well grown, the latter is probably the showiest of the genus. The white of the large broad-petaled flowers is set off by a gleaming black pistil, which makes a striking feature. O. arabicum is suitable for pot culture in northern conservatories, but perhaps the best way to grow it is in quantity in a frame. The bulbs have a way of remaining dormant for a season or two, a difficulty possibly to be associated with insufficient ripening. It is suspected that there are two varieties, a shy-blooming and a free- blooming kind. This may explain some of its reputation for capriciousness. O. thyrsoides is easier to grow and earlier to bloom. With gentle forcing it may be had for Christmas in a moderately warm house. O. revolutum is very distinct in having revolute instead of spreading segments. O. caudatum is cultivated in dwelling houses under the erroneous name of sea onion. The sea onion is Urginea maritima, a plant of the same general appearance but distinguishable in leaf, flower and fruit as follows: Urginea maritima has leaves 2 to 3 inches wide: raceme 1½ to 2 feet long: bracts 3 to 4 lines long: flowers white with a brown keel: seeds crowded, disk-like. Ornithogalum caudatum has leaves 1 to 1½ inches wide; raceme ½ to 1 foot long: bracts 6 to 9 lines long: flowers keeled with green: seeds not crowded nor compressed. The ornithogalums are increased naturally by the new bulbs. In general, they are plants of easy culture.

The tender kinds in cultivation are chiefly from the Cape of Good Hope, although O. arabicum is found in the Mediterranean region. When well grown, the latter is probably the showiest of the genus. The white of the large broad-petaled flowers is set off by a gleaming black pistil, which makes a striking feature. O. arabicum is suitable for pot culture in northern conservatories, but perhaps the best way to grow it is in quantity in a frame. The bulbs have a way of remaining dormant for a season or two, a difficulty possibly to be associated with insufficient ripening. It is suspected that there are two varieties, a shy-blooming and a free- blooming kind. This may explain some of its reputation for capriciousness. O. thyrsoides is easier to grow and earlier to bloom. With gentle forcing it may be had for Christmas in a moderately warm house. O. revolutum is very distinct in having revolute instead of spreading segments. O. caudatum is cultivated in dwelling houses under the erroneous name of sea onion. The sea onion is Urginea maritima, a plant of the same general appearance but distinguishable in leaf, flower and fruit as follows: Urginea maritima has leaves 2 to 3 inches wide: raceme 1½ to 2 feet long: bracts 3 to 4 lines long: flowers white with a brown keel: seeds crowded, disk-like. Ornithogalum caudatum has leaves 1 to 1½ inches wide; raceme ½ to 1 foot long: bracts 6 to 9 lines long: flowers keeled with green: seeds not crowded nor compressed. The ornithogalums are increased naturally by the new bulbs. In general, they are plants of easy culture.

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