The Botanical Magazine/Volume 1/5

by William Curtis

[ 5 ]

Erythronium Dens Canis. Dogs-Tooth, or Dogs-Tooth Violet.

❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈

Class and Order.

Hexandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Corolla 6-petala, campanulata: Nectario tuberculis 2-petalorum alternorum basi adnatis.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

ERYTHRONIUM Dens Canis. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. p. 269. Sp. Pl. p. 437.

Dens Canis latiore rotundioreque folio. Bauh. Pin. 87.

Dogs-Tooth with a pale purple flower. Park. Parad. p. 194.

---

Of this genus Mr. Miller makes too species; Linnæus, perhaps with more propriety, only one, for breadth of leaves or colour of flowers can scarcely be considered as sufficient to constitute a specific difference.

It is found in the gardens with purple flowers of two different tints, also with white and yellow blossoms, grows naturally in Hungary and some parts of Italy, and blows in the open border at the beginning of April.

"They are propagated by offsets from their roots. They love a shady situation and a gentle loamy soil, but should not be too often removed. They may be transplanted any time after the beginning of June, when their leaves will be quite decayed, till the middle of September; but the roots should not be kept very long out of the ground, for if they shrink it will often cause them to rot. The roots of these flowers should not be planted scattering in the borders of the flower-garden, but in patches near each other, where they will make a good appearance." Miller's Gard. Dict.