63 



Six years later (in Historia, by Lobel, 1576), there was printed 

 an excellent woodcut of this daylily showing an entire plant (see 

 Figure 3). This is the first illustration known for any plant of 

 the genus Hemcrocallis as now recognized. It is certain that this 

 plant was then being propagated vegetatively by division as a 

 garden clone and that it has continued to be thus propagated until 

 the present time. Hence, the plants of this particular type now 

 growing in our gardens are merely pieces of the same individual 

 illustrated more than three and one half centuries ago. 



Some of the earlier writers recorded certain ideas regarding the 

 natural home of this plant. Clusius in 1601 (Rariorum Plantarum 

 Historia) states that he had found it growing wild in Austria. Lin- 

 naeus, who first called the plant Hemcrocallis Lilio-Asphodelus 

 fiavus (Species Plantarum, 1753), states that its habitat was Hun- 

 gary and Siberia. We should note that later he decided to name 

 this plant Hemcrocallis flava (Species Plantarum, second edition, 

 1762) and that this is the botanical name which has continued in 

 use. Miller (Gardener's Dictionary, 1768) states that this daylily 

 grew in Hungary, Dalmatia, and Istria. Numerous references 

 since that date cite the plant as wild in certain parts of Europe and 

 in Siberia. 



A recent letter from Professor August Ginzberger, of Vienna, 

 Austria, states that the colony of Hemcrocallis flava observed by 

 Clusius in the year 1580 is still in existence. The location is near 

 Giissing in the area called Burgenland. Professor Ginzberger has 

 kindly offered to go to the colony and obtain living plants for ship- 

 ment to The New York Botanical Garden and plans have been 

 perfected for him to do so. 



We may first consider whether Hemcrocallis flava L. and also 

 the H. fulva clone Europa exist in the wild in Europe as indige- 

 nous plants or merely as early escapes from cultivation. A recent 

 flora (Hegi und Dunzinger, Illustrierte Flora von Mittel-Europa, 

 vol. 2, p. 205) reports that these daylilies grow wild or naturalized 

 outside of gardens, but chiefly in the vicinity of cloisters and old 

 castles, over a rather wide area of middle Europe. It is stated that 

 the H. flava seeds freely but that the H. fulva never produces seed, 

 although it is more widely distributed as an escape. The H. fulva 

 of Linnaeus (the Europa Daylily) is merely a triploid clone which 

 happens to be completely self -incompatible and also so nearly im- 



