The purple of the flowers is brilliant in the extreme, and as those are plentifully produced almost the year through, it has very generally obtained a place in collections of greenhouse plants about London. It is commonly increased by cuttings, but not easily. [341] SCILLA AMÆNA. BYZANTINE SQUILL. _Class and Order._ HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. _Generic Character._ _Cor._ 6-petala patens, decidua. _Filamenta_ filiformia. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ SCILLA _amæna_ floribus lateralibus alternis subnutantibus, scapo angulato. _Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 328. Ait. Kew. v. 1. p. 444. Jacq. Fl. Austr. v. 3. t. 218._ HYACINTHUS stellaris cæruleus amænus. _Bauh. Pin. 46._ HYACINTHUS stellaris Bizantinus. _Hort. Eyst. Vern. 2d. ord. fol. 13._ HYACINTHUS stellatus Byzantinus alter sive flore Boraginis. The other Starry Jacinth of Constantinople. _Park. Parad. p. 128. t. 131. f. 4._ HYACINTHUS stellaris, caulibus pluribus ex eodum bulbo ortis singulis pluribus floribus oneratis. _Moris. Hist. 2. p. 374. s. 4. t. 12. f. 17._ [Illustration: _N^o. 341_] The _Scilla amæna_, a hardy bulbous plant of small growth, is a native of the Levant, and has long been cultivated in this country for ornament, being introduced about the year 1600, by ED. Lord ZOUCH, (vid. _Park. Parad. & Lobel. Avers._); when it grows luxuriantly, many flowering stems will spring from the same root, which, when the plant is in flower, are altogether upright; as the seed-vessels advance in size and weight, they bend down, the blossoms are violet-colored, and the germen in the centre of each is distinguished for the paleness of its colour, a character which did not escape the observation of PARKINSON. It flowers early in May, and, in favourable situations, ripens its seeds in the beginning of June. Is usually increased by offsets, which are produced in tolerable abundance; will grow in almost any soil or situation; but will succeed best if planted in a sandy loam, and a warm sheltered part of the garden. Its seeds are of a pale amber colour, and drop soon. Though Professor JACQUIN figures it in his _Fl. Austriaca_, he suspects that it had originally been introduced from Constantinople. [342] ERICA PERSOLUTA. BLUSH-FLOWERED HEATH. _Class and Order._ OCTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. _Generic Character._ _Cal._ 4-phyllus. _Cor._ 4-fida. _Filamenta_ receptaculo inserta. _Antheræ_ bifidæ. _Caps._ 4-locularis. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ ERICA _persoluta_ antheris aristatis inclusis, corollis campanulatis, calycibus ciliatis, foliis quaternis. _Linn. Mant. p. 230.Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 17._ ERICA _subdivaricata_. _Berg. Cap. 114._ ERICA _persoluta_ aristata foliis ternis quaternisque trigonis glabris, floribus umbellatis, calice ciliato. _Thunb. Prod. Pl. Cap. p. 73._ [Illustration: _N^o. 342_]