122 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [Sess. 



Notes on Chinese Lilies. By Professor William 

 Wright Smith. (With Pis. IV.-VII.) 



The following notes have been rendered possible by 

 the kindness of Professor Henri Lecomte, Director of the 

 Herbarium of the Paris Museum, who has given me the 

 opportunit}^ of examining the type specimens of the species 

 of Lilium described by the late M. Franchet. The bulk of 

 the material otherwise available was collected by Mr. 

 George Forrest during his various explorations in Yunnan 

 and Western Szechwan. This has been supplemented by 

 collections of other travellers and especially by the 

 acquisition of the Chinese Herbarium of the late Mon- 

 seigneur Leveille, containing types of many imperfectly 

 known plants described by him. The necessary data in 

 herbaria and in gardens on which to found an adequate 

 account of the Chinese Lilies as a whole are still far from 

 complete, and the present notes deal for the most part 

 with species for which recently acquired material has 

 served as a basis for ampler description and possibly more 

 precise definition. The material is rich in collections from 

 Western China, but the species of Northern and Eastern 

 China are comparatively poorly represented. These notes 

 will consequently refer chiefly to the western species. I 

 liave taken certain well-marked western species as sub- 

 ordinate centres round which to arrange what seems to 

 nie to be their near allies. I have had an opportunity of 

 discussing the Yunnan species very fully with Mr. George 

 Forrest, who has returned again to that province for 

 further exploration. He has been kind enough to say 

 that he will make observations on the western species in 

 their natural state, and try to solve some of the difficulties 

 which presented themselves both to him and to me. I 

 have also had the privilege of discussing most of the 

 species with the late Mr. H. J. Elwes, F.R.S., the mono- 

 grapher of the genus, with Mr. A. Grove, and also with 

 Mr. E. H. Wilson, Assistant-13irector of the Arnold 

 Arboretum, the well-known Ciiinese explorer whose 

 writings are fumiliui- to all interested in the genus. 



