THE BIG BOG AND ITS LILIES 165 
novelty, I collected that bulb with laborious care, and 
carried it home to Japan, through all the changes and 
chances of mortal life, which involved a visit to the 
Great Wall of China and a fortnight of dust-storms 
and pneumonia in a hospital of French nuns at Peking. 
And for my reward that Lily throve and shot up to 
its full height like any heroine of a novel. But alas! 
when the gracious blossom opened, it was only Liliwm 
medeoloeides, which, like avenaceum, is a smaller, frailer ver- 
sion of its compatriot, graceful, glowing-flowered callosum. 
Auratum, nowadays, has many forms, and the first 
thing to notice is that awratum platyphyllum has absolutely 
destroyed auratum for gardening purposes. Platyphyllum 
is twice as large as awratum, twice as vigorous, twice as 
perennial, twice as easy to grow, and twice as brilliant. 
Indeed, I might have said thrice or four times without 
overshooting the mark, I think. Platyphyllum is magni- 
ficent ; no one must ever think of buying the type awra- 
twm nowadays. ‘Then there is the beautiful virginale, 
without spots, but a trifle delicate and capricious ; and 
rubro-vittatum, with notable central stripe of crimson 
down each segment. And, finally, there is a new form 
just dawning over the Eastern horizon, in which I am 
this year indulging, despite its terrifying price. This is 
described as rubro-vittatum as far as brilliancy of colour- 
ing and crimson stripe are concerned, but as being pure 
platyphyllim in every other respect—in strength, in 
stature, in enormous size of blossom, in unpretentious 
readiness to thrive and persist. 
As for Lilium gigantewm, this unnatural-looking Lily 
comes triumphantly in to some high, copsy corner above 
the bog, a corner, if possible, sheltered from sun and wind. 
Gilehni, cordifolium, and giganteum make up a small, 
strange group of Cardiocrinums, utterly unlike all the 
other lily-classes— Archeleirion, Euleirion, Isoleirion, 
