ties, however,
retain few of the characteristics of _psittacinus_. The erect, fleshy
stem, capable of absorbing sufficient water, when the spike is cut, to
develop all blooms, and the strong upright growth have been preserved as
indispensable features, but the flowers have been marvelously improved
in respect to form, color, size, arrangement and finish, as the result
of interbreeding with every procurable species or variety of
sufficiently distinct character, and constant seeding selection. The
most popular varieties of the day, such as May, Augusta, and
Shakespeare, have little resemblance to _psittacinus_ and practically
none to _cardinalis_, but exhibit strongly the main characteristics of
_G. oppositiflorus_, an old white-and-rose, many-flowered species, often
thought to have been the real parent of _Gandavensis_, instead of
_cardinalis_. The writer's experience is that present-day authentic
hybrids of _psittacinus_ and _cardinalis_ do not resemble _Gandavensis_,
while the issue of _psittacinus_ x _oppositiflorus_ closely reproduces
_Gandavensis_ as it is found in old gardens. Varied and beautiful as the
_Gandavensis_ hybrids or "French seedlings" of the last generation
were--and some have never been excelled--intense and pleasing shades of
red were strangely lacking, when the predominance of _psittacinus_ blood
in the strain is considered.

It was not until 1878 that Victor Lemoine, Nancy, France, produced, by
crossing the finest _Gandavensis_ varieties with _G. purpureo-auratus_,
an important race now widely known as _Lemoinei_, that possessed the
rich and intense shades of red, purple, and yellow so ardently desired
by fanciers. Some of the richest coloring in the floral kingdom is found
among the _Lemoinei_ varieties, now wonderfully developed by consistent
breeding. The hooded form of _purpureo-auratus_ blooms, however, is
often retained, and the stems usually have the wiry texture of the
species rendering the development of the flowers, after cutting, less
perfect than the _Gandavensis_.

The next great improvement in garden gladioli was brought about by Max
Leichtlin, Baden Baden, Germany, who extensively hybridized the best
_Gandavensis_ varieties with _G. Saundersii_, then a newly introduced
species characterized by large widely opened scarlet flowers speckled
with white on the lower divisions. The resulting seedlings, without
doubt the finest strain of modern times, were bought by V. H. Hallock
and Son,