THE LILY FAMILY. 387 



The families commonly associated under the idea of "lily" are the 

 true Liliaceae, and those named after the Snowdrop, the Crocus, and the 

 Orchis. The whole of their respective species, with a few exceptions, 

 are herhaceous : they very commonly have bulbous or tuberous roots : 

 their leaves are alternate, parallel-veined, and usually succulent ; in 

 almost all cases narrow, varying from linear to lanceolate or oval ; 

 always entire, seldom provided with petioles, and never articulated to 

 the stem, so that when they wither, instead of a scar, there remains a 

 stump. The calyx and corolla each consist of three pieces, which 

 usually correspond in size and colour, and also in texture, their sub- 

 stance being very delicate and generally succulent. A purely green 

 calyx, unless the whole flower be green, is unknown among them. 

 The six pieces are either free, or united half-way up, but never into 

 an inner and an outer tube, as in the calyx and corolla of dichla- 

 mydeous Exogens, and are generally very satiny and gaily coloured. 

 The stamens are normally six or three ; and the ovary is, without 

 exception, solitary. Most of the species are deliciously fragrant. 



They are broadly distinguishable as follows : — 



* Flowers regular, or nearly so ; stamens distinct from the 

 pistil. 



Ovary " superior," or free and enclosed by the perianth Lily Family. 



Ovary " inferior," or having the perianth adherent to it, and 

 carried, in effect, on to the summit. 



Stamens six Snowdrop Family. 



Stamens three Crocus Family. 



** Flowers extremely irregular; stamens incorporated with 



the pistil Orchis Family. 



There are plants, without question, having more or less of a liliaceous 

 aspect, in families difierent from these four, but the great mass of the 

 " lilies" are here assembled in quadruple alliance. 



The true Liliacese amount to at least a thousand species, and are 

 difiused very generally in temperate countries, where, with one or two 

 exceptions, they are herbaceous ; while the fewer kinds, which belong 

 to the tropics, manifest a strong tendency to become tree-like. Flowers 

 always regular ; stamens six, inserted upon the sepals and petals, one 

 to each, with their anthers opening inwards ; ovary free or "superior" 

 and three-celled ; stigma either simple or three-lobed ; fruit a dry, 

 three-celled, many-seeded capsule, bursting into three valves when 

 ripe, and discharging the seeds ; or in some cases a succulent berry. 



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