266 The yapan Lilies. 



tined to be as familiar in the garden as the beautiful white or Annun- 

 ciation Lily. 



Mr. Hovey has raised a number of seedling Japan Lilies, one of 

 which, called by him Melpomene, is several shades deeper in color than 

 the old red variety, and is a valuable acquisition. 



Liliuni crucntum is another deep red variety which I received 

 through a friend from Japan six years ago, and which, from its pecu- 

 liarity of form, as well as its color, is entitled to stand under a distinct 

 name. The flower is very broad and flat, the petals being less re- 

 curved than usual, and the color is scarcely less deep than in the 

 Melpomene. 



Many other varieties will be found in the catalogues, but not one 

 of them can be distinguished by the unpractised eye. L. spcciosum 

 is identical with L. riibriim^ and L. siiperb7iin (not our fine native 

 lily of this name) does not difler from it the value of a hair. 



The only other members of the species requiring special mention 

 are the red, white, and rose colored varieties of L. lancifolitim mon- 

 strosum. These are, as their name imports, monstrosities. Their pecu- 

 liarity consists in the merging of several small stems into one lai'ge one, 

 which is flat and broad, and which branches near the top, so that the 

 number of the flowers is greatly increased, though their size is apt to 

 be diminished. They form at times a large, dense cluster, — white, 

 red, or rose color, as the case may be, — and numbering from twenty 

 to thirty blossoms. That figured in the plate, from a photograph, had 

 twenty-seven buds and flowers. The etl'ect is often very striking and 

 beautiful ; but these varieties with aggregated stems seem liable to a 

 species of blight or rust, which sometimes spoils the flowering. The 

 other varieties are also exposed to it in some seasons, though in a less 

 degree. It is one of the few diseases from which this vigorous race 

 is ever known to sufler. 



These lilies will grow in any tolerably good garden soil ; but to have 

 them in perfection, it should be dug deep, — say eighteen inches or 

 more, — and mixed with a good proportion of coarse sand and well- 

 rotted manure, at least two years old. To this should be added peat, 

 surface soil from the woods, or well-rotted leaves, either of which will 



