96 



NOTES ON LI LI K 3 



the best argument against this plant being a hybrid* between 

 Spcciosinn and Japonicnm , since there arc none of the characters of 

 Spcciosum in it at all, and it had best be considered as a well-formed, 

 delicately coloured Jaj'onicum ; or if a hybrid, then Lonrjijiorum and 



L. Broicnii ; half the natural .size ; colour, yellowish white, much tinged and dotted 



with purple. 



Note. — L. Longiflorum often has l)ulbs exactly this size and form, but either pure 



white or clear yellow, never, or very rarely, suli'used or dotted with purple. 



Broivnil must have been the parents. The colour of the Lonf/ijlorum- 



like bulb is while, shaded with yellow, and sometimes suffused with 



brown. The bulbs of the robust-growing Broivnii are peculiar in 



shape, being somewhat like a Tangerine Orange, oblate in form, the 



base being curiously constricted, as shown in our sketch, made from 



a fine bulb kindly sent by Dr. Wallace. The colour of the scales in the 



specimen sent was white, much suffused and dotted with purple, but 



in some soils the bulbs are yellowish-white, and do not turn pm'ple 



on exposure, although the yellow deepens in tone considerably. 



Dr. Wallace has pointed out that the bulbs of this noble Lily are 



peculiarly liable to decay at the base, and after carefully examining 



the bulbs of this plant, I believe that this is due to their singular 



structm'e, the scales being very much hollowed out at the base, 



and as these become closely imbricated cup-fashion, the moisture, 



which find an entrance at the flat apex of the bulbs where the scales 



"•' I cannot rmderstand, why everyone should look upon Kramcri as a garden raised 

 hybrid ; it was sent to me in 1870, as growing freely and indigenously 3,000 to 4,000 feet 

 above sea level, and from the quantities imported (from 5,000 to 10,000 yearly) it 

 certainly can be no garden hybrid. In shape of bulb, stem, foliage, and contour of 

 flower, it most resembles a small Auratum, and if 1 were to choose another parent, I 

 should name Concolor or FuJchdluui as most likely ; but I should as soon call yluratiun 

 a hybiid as Kramcri. Compare also Thunberg's remarks, p. 68, in foot note, "that tliis 

 Lily grows spontaneously (indigenously) at Miaco, and elsewhere in Japan " (1783). 



