THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



I. NiOBE PLANTAGiNEA (Lam.) Nasli. White Day-lily. 

 Plantain Lily 



Hemerocallis plaiiiaginca Lam. Niobc cordifolia Salisb. Funkia 

 subcordafa Spreng. Fniikia alba Sweet. Funkia grandiflora 

 Sieb. & Zucc. 



A showy perennial, with large plantain-like leaves, and racemes 

 of white odorous flowers. Leaves numerous, pale green ; blades 

 6-9 in. long, 3-5 in. wide, broadly ovate, cordate at the base, 

 acute at the apex, with 6-8 curved nerves on each side of the 

 midrib ; petiole usually exceeding, the blade ; scape 1-2 ft. tall, 

 with I or 2 lanceolate bracts near the middle ; inflorescence race- 

 mose, 4-8 in. long; flowers up to about 12, each in the axil of 

 an ovate bract i-i^ in. long, on pedicels less than i in. long; 

 perianth 3-4 in. long, white, its lobes ovate or lanceolate, i-i^ in. 

 long, but little spreading; stamens shorter than the perianth; cap- 

 sule about 10 lines long. 



A native of Japan and China. Lamarck, who described this 

 plant under the name of HeuicrocalUs plantaginea in 1789, 

 thought that it had been growing for a few years in the garden of 

 the king, to which it had been sent by M. de Guines from China. 

 This is the first reference found to its cultivation outside of its 

 native country, so its introduction to European gardens may be 

 taken as occurring somewhere near that date. It is known in 

 Japan as " tamano kandsaki." The variety grandiflora {Funkia 

 grandiflora Sieb. & Zucc.) appears to differ only in the somewhat 

 larger flowers, and in having the bracts of the raceme larger and 

 more leaf-like. 



2. NiOBE jAPONiCA (Thunb.) Nash. Japanese or Lance-leaved 



Day-lily 



Aletris japonica Thunb. Funkia lancifolia Spreng. 



A showy perennial forming large dense masses, with elliptic 

 to nearly ovate leaf-blades which are narrowed at the base, and 

 racemes of lavender flowers. Leaves numerous, green ; blades 

 4-6 in. long, sometimes up to 2^ in. wide, lanceolate or elliptic 

 to ovate-lanceolate, usually equally narrowed at both ends, rarely 

 more broadly so at the base, with 3-5, rarely more, curved nerves 

 on each side of the midrib ; scape 1-2 ft. tall, overtopping the 

 leaves, the scattered and distant leaves gradually passing into the 

 bracts of the inflorescence ; inflorescence racemose ; flowers some- 

 times up to 20, finally nodding, on pedicels 2-^^ lines long; 



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