A Little Maryland Garden 133 
have had the rubrum, album, and roseum, 
but the last of the three are my favourites. 
Their nodding heads, the true lily-texture of 
their petals, their odd, jewelled excrescences 
and large stamens, their graceful contour, 
sometimes varied by a petal that flies 
awkwardly out at a wrong angle, make them 
lovable members of this family. 
Another Japanese lily, the auratum, is 
like an Eastern queen. Much taller than 
the speciosum, it is stately and graceful, 
a regal looking flower. It is beautiful in 
every stage. The buds swell slowly day by 
day, changing from pale green to creamy 
white. Then they unfold and show the 
noble flower, with a pale band of gold through 
each ivory petal. Its stamens are heavily 
laden with cinnamon-red pollen, a colour 
which repeats itself in tiny flecks through 
the flower. It exhales a rich perfume, sug- 
gestive of sandalwood and oriental spices, 
which carries far on the evening air and makes 
the garden delightful. The heavy flowers 
crowning the strong but slender stem are so 
