71 



THE WILD YELLOW LILY. 



Among our common wild flowers, 

 that quickly attract the attention of the 

 observer is the Yellow Lily (Lilium cana- 

 dense). Its home is in the swamps, the 

 wet meadows and fields of Canada and 

 the United States, east of the Missouri 

 river. It is also called the Canada, the 

 Field and the Meadow Lily. 



This plant, with about forty-five sister 

 species — all beautiful, belongs to the 

 genus Lilium. All are natives of the 

 Northern Hemisphere and are found dis- 

 tributed around the world. About six- 

 teen species are natives of the United 

 States. The flowers vary in color. Some 

 ' are red, others white or yellow and some 

 are more or less mottled. 



No plants are more frequently men- 

 tioned in Ancient Myths and by the clas- 

 sical poets. Though the white lily 

 (Lilium candidum) was, even before the 

 time of Homer, known as a garden 

 flower, yet the earliest descriptions of 

 the lilies found in cultivation were writ- 

 ten by Gerard in the year 1597. 



It is thought by some that the "lilies 

 of the field," spoken of in the seventh 

 chapter of Matthew, are the red lily de- 

 scribed by Pliny. The white lilies have 

 long been considered the symbol of pu- 

 rity and were often used by the great 

 masters in the pictures of the Annuncia- 

 tion, in which they were represented as 



held by the Angel Gabriel. How appro- 

 priate is the white lily, with its glossy 

 and pure white petals for the decoration 

 of Easter time ! 



The slender stalk of the Yellow Lily 

 arises from a scaly bulbous and thickened 

 underground stem, growing to a height 

 of from two to five feet. The leaves are 

 narrow and lance-shaped, from two to 

 six inches in length and usually attached 

 in whorls of from three to eight. Each 

 stalk bears from one to fifteen flowers,, 

 the ground color of which is yellow or 

 reddish with brownish spots toward the 

 base of each division, which are six in 

 number and are spreading and grace- 

 fully arched. The flowers, "appearing in 

 June, July and August, are nodding and 

 vary in length from two to four inches. 

 The fruit pods are oblong, large, and 

 bear numerous seeds. 



Closely related to the plant of our illus- 

 tration, and at times closely resembling 

 it, is the beautiful Turk's Cap Lily (Lilium 

 superbum). This species is wonderfully 

 prolific in the production of flowers, 

 sometimes bearing forty or more on a 

 single stalk. It is one of the tallest of 

 the lilies, and frequently the marshes of 

 the eastern states are transformed by its 

 presence into striking masses of color, 

 orange, orange-yellow or red. 



