THE HYBRIDIZATION OF LILIES. 239 



were not distinguishable from those of the pure L. speciosiim." 

 The article records the results of various similar attempts to 

 hybridize other Lilies. For instance, our X. superhum was 

 poUenized with eight different old-world species. The result 

 was, that capsules, apparently perfect, were abundantly pro- 

 duced ; some of them contained nothing but chaff, others had 

 a few imperfect seeds, still others gave a fair supply of good 

 seed. From this seed several hundred young bulbs were pro- 

 duced. " But when these came into bloom, not a single flower 

 of them all was in the least distinguishable from the pure 

 L. superbian.^^ Moreover, in this case (different from the 

 other) " not one of the eight different male parents had im- 

 posed his features on his hybrid offspring. Not only in their 

 flowers, but in their leaves, stems, and bulbs, the young plants 

 showed no variation from their maternal parent." The ex- 

 periment proceeded one generation farther. " In the following 

 year 1 set some of them apart from the rest, and applied to 

 them, as to their mother before them, the pollen of several 

 species of Lilies. This time the seeds were extremely scanty. 

 A few, however, were produced ; but the plants and flowers 

 that resulted from them were, to all appearance, X. sujjerhum 

 pure and simple." 



In trials of other species results intermediate between these 

 two cases were obtained. For instance, the pure white of the 

 perianth of L. longiflorum came out unstained in the progeny 

 raised by a crossing with L. speciosum., and the herbage was 

 equally unaffected ; but in that or the next generation " dis- 

 tinct evidence could be seen of the action of alien pollen " in 

 the changed color of many of the anthers, and in the abortion 

 of others. They also showed differences of habit among them- 

 selves, some being very tall and vigorous, and others compact 

 and bushy, with a tendency to bloom in clusters ; but these 

 may have been mere seedling variations, with which the hy- 

 bridization had nothing to do. Yet some of these marks cor- 

 respond with known results of hybridization. 



That offspring should partake unequally of the characters 

 of the two parents is a matter of common observation. That 

 in the genus Lilium the hybrid offspring should in forty 



