52 Addisonia 



This lily is a native of the areas about the Mediterranean and 

 Black Sea, from the Pyrenees mountains and the island of Corsica 

 to northern Persia and the Caucasus. There are several quite rare 

 varieties, none of which is superior to the type in general culti- 

 vation. The plant here illustrated was grown at the New York 

 Botanical Garden from a bulb furnished by John Scheepers, Inc. 



The bulb of the madonna lily is globular, wider at the base and 

 narrow at the apex, white or greenish in color and two to four 

 inches in diameter. It is composed of large thick scales, with a few 

 coarse roots from the base. New or daughter bulbs produce 

 numerous, glossy, green leaves, frequently ten inches in length, 

 directly from the outer bulb-scales. These appear in late summer 

 and autumn, previous to the year of blooming. The flowering 

 stems are three to four feet high and bear a hundred or more leaves, 

 much crowded below but scattered above and ranging from six to 

 eight inches in length below, to mere bracts at the apex. There 

 are from five to twenty waxy white, very sweet-scented flowers in a 

 compact raceme. The perianth is decidedly bell-shaped, with the 

 ends of the segments slightly recurving. The anthers are yellow, 

 and the pistil is greenish white, descending and upward-curving. 

 Well-formed capsules are about one and a half inches long, usually 

 pear-shaped as shown in the accompanying illustration, although 

 the shape and plumpness depend somewhat on the proper and 

 compatible fertilization. 



Helen M. Fox. 



Explanation of Plate. Fig. 1. — Upper part of flowering stem, with all 

 but one flower removed. Fig. 2. — Mother-bulb with two daughter-bulbs, one 

 of which has a late summer leaf, X ^. Fig. 3. — Capsule, immature but of full 

 size. 



