LILY 



equal admiration, as we learn from Columella that 

 it was preserved or planted in baskets. In his 

 tenth book he says, 



Then plant the various llow'rs, these earthly stars, 



And Lilies, which in baskets long preserve 

 Their verdure. 



Pliny mentions the Lily as next to the Rose in 

 point of beauty, and tells us that the root when 

 dry was frequently steeped in purple wine, in order 

 that it might produce a purple flower. How far 

 this would cause a change in the colour of the 

 blossom we have not tried, but leave the experi- 

 ment to the curious. 



The common White Lily was So familiar in the 

 time of Queen Elizabeth, that Gerard speaks of it 

 as a native plant; he says, '' Our English Wliite 

 Lillie groweth in most gardens of England. " He 

 further tells us, that he received roots of White 

 Lilies from Constantinople, under the Turkish 

 title of Sultan Zambach, which means Sultan's 

 great White Flowers ; but these appear to have 

 been only a stronger variety of the same plant. 



The Greeks named this flower Asipiov and K^zvoy. 

 The English name is derived from the Latin, as is 

 also the French Lis; the Spanish Lirio, the German 

 Lilie, the Italian GitjUo, and the Dutch Gihjen, 

 seem also to be corruptions of the same word. 



The White Lily is of so easy a cultivation, that 



B 5 



