Addisonia 65 



(Plate 153) 



LILIUM HENRYI 

 Henry's Lily 



Native of central China 

 Family Liuac^a^ I,ii,y Family 



Lilium Henryi Baker, Gard. Cliron. Ill, 4: 660. 1888. 



A herbaceous plant, with a large, reddish-brown, globular bulb 

 three or four inches in diameter, of many oblong, fleshy scales. 

 The stem reaches a height of from four to eight feet, is smooth, 

 deep green, and bears about thirty leaves, and from one to twenty 

 flowers at its summit. The lower leaves are about five inches 

 long and one inch wide, sessile, acute, and prominently seven- or 

 eight-veined, and have entire margins; the leaves toward the top of 

 the stem successively are much shorter, the uppermost being nearly 

 circular in outline; they are somewhat clasping at the base, acumi- 

 nate, the tips being slightly recurved. The large flowers are on 

 long branches, lack fragrance, and are mostly nodding. The six 

 perianth-segments are lanceolate, reflexed and curved from their 

 bases; they are apricot or orange-yellow in color, spotted with 

 reddish-brown, keeled near their bases, in the center with gHstening 

 patches of green, on both sides of which are numerous yellow, 

 club-shaped papillae. The six stamens, with green filaments, 

 hang down tvv^o or three inches below the perianth-segments, curving 

 outward from the style; the red-brown anthers are centrally at- 

 tached. The style is nearly as long as the stamens, slightly curved, 

 and the stigma indistinct. The capsule is large, with six prominent 

 ridges, and contains many seeds. 



This lily, sometimes called the "yellow speciosum," because of 

 its relation and similarity of form and habit to Lilium speciosum, 

 was introduced into cultivation in 1898, flowering first in the Royal 

 Gardens at Kew, England, from bulbs sent by Augustine Henry 

 from the grassy slopes of Ichang, Western Hupeh, China, where 

 he had first collected it a year before. Mr. B. H. Wilson says 

 "Ichang is best known to horticulturalists as the home of the lovely 

 Lilium Henryi." 



While not deemed perfectly hardy, Henry's lily does well if 

 planted with the protection of conifers or rhododendrons, as it 

 likes a little shade and coolness at the roots. Green backgrounds 

 also enhance its attractiveness, bringing out the contrast of orange, 

 yellow-green centers, and reddish dots and anthers. This lily may 

 be propagated not only by bulbs, but by seeds, which are produced 

 abundantly. 



