238 REVIEWS. 



THE HYBRIDIZATION OF LILIES. 



Mr. Parkman, under the above title, gives a summary ^ of 

 his experiments, during ten or twelve years, in crossing Lilies. 

 One of the earlier results, and that which the horticulturists 

 count as the eminent one, was the jjroduction of that mag- 

 nificent hybrid between Z/. auratum and L. speciosum^ with 

 flower resembling the former in fragrance and form and the 

 most brilliant varieties of the latter in color, which was 

 brought out in England under the name of Lilium Parlc- 

 7)%anni. The interesting physiological point which Mr. Park- 

 man here records is, that this striking novelty was wholly 

 unique ; that all the other seeds of the same parentage which 

 germinated, over fifty in number, gave rise to plants which in 

 the blossom showed no trace of the male parent, L. auratum^ 

 but were exactly like the female parent, L. speciosum. That 

 these plants were truly hybrids, notwithstanding, is well made 

 out : 1, by the precautions taken against any possible access of 

 own pollen ; 2, by the scantiness of seed, most of which was 

 abortive ; 3. " such good seed as there was differed in appear- 

 ance from the seed of the same Lily fertilized by the pollen of 

 its own species," which is smooth, while this was rough and 

 wrinkled ; and 4, the stems were mottled after the manner of 

 the male parent. 



It would naturally be thought that this slight but evident 

 impression of the character of the male parent might be 

 deepened by iteration. That was tried next year, when the 

 flowers of several of these plants were fertilized with the pollen 

 of X. aurntmn precisely as their female parent had been fer- 

 tilized. The result was an extremely scanty crop of seed, 

 "but there was enough to produce 8 or 10 young bulbs. Of 

 these, when they bloomed, one bore a flower combining the 

 features of both parents, but though large, it was far inferior 

 to L. Parkmanni in form and color ; the remaining flowers 



1 The Hybridization of Lilies. By Francis Parkman, in Bull. Riisspy In- 

 stitution, ii., 1877. (American Journal of Science and Arts, 3 scr., xv. 

 144.) 



