LILY. 



L Ilium Candidum. 



)HIS beautiful flower is said to be a native of Palestine, 

 and seems formerly to have flourished more extensively 

 than at present. The lily is spoken of in Solomon s 

 Song, but is, according to Sprengel, in the Arabic and 

 Chaldee versions translated &quot;jonquil&quot; or &quot;narcissus.&quot; 

 This latter plant is very similar to the daffodil ; and the Arabs 

 gathered it for us around Jericho, where it grows wild in pro 

 fusion. It springs up, in January and February, along the 

 damp borders of streams or in shady places near rocks. Some 

 have supposed that the capitals of the pillars of Solomon s 

 temple, which in Kings and Chronicles are said to have been 

 made after the likeness of lilies, were modelled after the Egyp 

 tian lotus. The greater probability is that they were in imita 

 tion of the lily, as it is reasonable to suppose that the architect 

 would copy the flowers of the land rather than those of Egypt. 

 The same may be said of the ornaments of the molten sea, 

 which had its brim &quot;wrought like to the flowers of lilies.&quot; 



There is a tradition that the lily anciently grew in such 

 profusion on the plains of Sharon, east of Joppa, that it was 

 customary to use the dried stalks of the plant to heat the ovens 

 wherein bread was baked. To this luxuriant growth the 

 prophet Hosea probably refers where he writes (xiv. 5) of Israel, 

 that &quot; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.&quot; 



