Addisonia 59 



(Plate 254) 



LILIUM SUPERBUM 

 Swamp Lily 



Native of eastern North America 

 Family Liuaceas Lii,y Family 



Lilium superbum L. Sp. PI. 434. 1753. 



This species is considered to be variable and forms intermediate 

 between it and L. canadense are frequently noted. It is, however, 

 a quite different species, to be distinguished by the three-sided 

 angular flower-bud and the decidedly green "star" or eye inside 

 at the base of the perianth. It is also a plant of somewhat more 

 vigorous growth. The bulb is large and the rhizome more fre- 

 quently branching. It is less widely distributed in nature, being 

 most frequent along the eastern coast. Studies in the seed-breed- 

 ing of the lilies, in progress at the New York Botanical Garden, 

 show that L. superbum and L. canadense can intercross, which 

 suggests that natural hybridization may give rise to the inter- 

 mediate forms that have been observed. 



This American species has been in cultivation in Europe for at 

 least one hundred years. Once established it maintains itself under 

 reasonable care rather permanently. As is the case with L. can- 

 adense, the rootstock and new bulbs are brittle and easily broken 

 and injured when handled roughly in transplanting. Many plants 

 of this species are self-incompatible, but cross-pollination between 

 plants of mixed stocks or of seed-progenies usually results in seed. 

 The seedlings remain entirely beneath the ground during the first 

 season of growth. The plant here illustrated grew at the New 

 York Botanical Garden from a bulb purchased through the firm of 

 John Scheepers, Inc. 



The swamp lily is a tall-growing plant frequently six or more feet 

 in height, with strong glabrous stems more or less tinged with pur- 

 ple. The leaves are smooth and lanceolate and mostly in whorls 

 of from three to eight, with some of the lower and the upper ones 

 alternate. The inflorescence is usually a large panicle with three 

 to forty long-peduncled nodding flowers ; on young or small plants 

 the flowers are sometimes solitary. The perianth is orange or 

 orange strongly tinged with red and is purple-spotted. The outer 

 three segments of the perianth are more linear than the inner three ; 

 all have a conspicuous green area at the base inside and all are 

 strongly recurved. The stamens are diverging and the anthers are 



