LI L 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



LI L 



41 



species are, 1. , Vith the flowers striped or blotched 

 with purple. This is become very common ; but the purple 

 stain giving the flower a dull colour, the common white is 

 preferred. 2. With variegated or striped leaves, or with the 

 leaves edged with yellow. This is chiefly valued for its 

 appearance in winter and spring : for the leaves coming out 

 early in the autumn, spreading themselves flat on the ground, 

 and being finely edged with a broad yellow band, make a 

 pretty appearance during the winter and spring months. It 

 flowers earlier than the plain sort. 3. With double flowers. 

 This variety is of little value, because the flowers never open 

 well, unless they are covered with glasses; nor have they any 

 of the rich colour of the common sort. 4. With pendulous 

 flowers; which Miller and others consider as a distinct spe- 

 cies. It came originally from Constantinople. The stalk is 

 much more slender; the leaves are narrower and fewer in 

 number ; the flowers are not so large, and the petals more 

 contracted at the base; they always hang downwards. The 

 flowers of the Lily were formerly considered as antiepileptic 

 and anodyne; a distilled water of them was employed as a 

 cosmetic; and oil of lilies was supposed to possess anodyne 

 and nervine powers: but their odorous matter, though very 

 powerful, is totally dissipated in drying, and entirely carried 

 oil' in distillation either with spirit or water, and no essential 

 oil can be obtained from them. The roots only are now in 

 use; they are extremely mucilaginous, and are chiefly em- 

 ployed in emollient and suppurating cataplasms, boiled with 

 milk or water. Physicians, however, are generally of opinion 

 that bread or meal poultices possess every advantage of those 

 prepared from the lily-root. Meyrick, however, says that 

 the root bruised and applied to hard tumors, softens and 

 ripens them sooner than almost any other application. Made 

 into an ointment, they take away corns, and remove the pain 

 and inflammation arising from burns and scalds. Country 

 people sometimes, continues he, make an oil from the flowers 

 by infusing them in oil of olives, and apply it to any part 

 affected with pain and inflammation with great success. It 

 is likewise an excellent application to contracted tendons. 

 Native of the Levant: Linnrus says, of Syria; and Thunberg, 

 of Japan. It flowers in June and July. This plant, with all 

 its varieties, and in short with all the plants of the genus, 

 may easily be increased from offsets, which the bulbs of this 

 sort send out in such great plenty, as to make it necessary 

 to lake them off every other, or at most every third year, to 

 prevent their weakening the principal bulb. The time for 

 removing them is the end of August, soon after the slalks 

 decay. They will thrive in almost any soil and situation, 

 and as they grow tall and spread, they must be allowed room, 

 and in large borders they are verj ornamental. They are so 

 hardy that no frost injures them; and increasing very fast, 

 are become so very common as lo be little regarded, notwith- 

 standing the great beauty of the flowers, and their rich odour, 

 which is too powerful for many persons. 



2. Ldium Japonicum; Japan While Lily. Leaves scat- 

 tered, lanceolate; corollas drooping, subcampanulate; stem 

 round, smooth, and even, two feet high; flowers terminating, 

 reflex, and hanging down; corolla white. Native ot Japan. 



3. Liliinn Cates>ba;i; Catesby's Lily. Leaves scattered, 

 lanceolate; corollas upright, bell-shaped; petals with claws. 

 Of all the lilies cultivated in this country, this is the least; 

 the whole plant, when in bloom, being frequently not more 

 than a -foot high, (hough it is said to grow to the height of 

 two feet in its native soil. The stalk is terminated by one 

 upright flower, which has no scent. It was first observed 

 by Catesby on open moist savannas in many parts of Caiokina. 

 He says that the bulb is about the size of a walnut; that the 



petals turn back in a graceful manner, and are tapering, termi- 

 nating in points, and edged with small indentures; and that the 

 whole flower is variously shaded with red, orange, and lemou 

 colours. It flowers in July and August; native of South 

 Carolina. This may be raised from seeds or offsets, which, 

 however, are not very plentifully produced, and will not grow- 

 in perfection without great care; the roots in particular are 

 to be guarded against frost. 



4. Liiium Bulbiterum ; Bulb-bearing or Orange Lily. 

 Leaves scattered ; corollas bell-shaped, erect, rugged within; 

 bulb subovate, consisting of thick white loosely imbricate 

 scales, putting out a few thick fibres from the bottom ; stem 

 upright, a foot and half high, striated, angular; flower with- 

 out scent, red-orange within, pale-orange on the outside; 

 all the petals, from the base to beyond the middle, are rugged 

 with little scales and apophyses, wiih a few black dots. 

 There are many varieties, in size, leaves, and flowers. Mr. 

 Miller mentions the following: 1. Orange Lily with double 

 flowers. 2. Orange Lily with variegated leaves. 3. Smaller 

 Orange Lily. 4. Bulb-bearing Fiery Lily. These seldom 

 ri^e more than Imlf the height of the others; the leaves are 

 narrower; the flowers smaller, and of a brighter flame colour, 

 few in number, and more erect. They come out a month 

 before those of the common sort, and the stalks put out bulbs 

 at most of the axils, which, if taken off when the plants 

 decay, and planted, will produce plants. There are also 

 several subordinate varieties, but not worth enumeration. 

 The Orange Lily is found wild in Austria: it also grows in 

 Italy, and other southern regions of Europe; in Siberia, and 

 in Japan. This sort is grown so common, and increases so 

 readily by offsets, that it is almost rejected. It should not, 

 however, be excluded from large gardens, since, when pro- 

 perly disposed, it makes a handsome appearance while in 

 flower. The stalks decay in September, the roots may be 

 then transplanted, and the offsets taken off; but as it does 

 not put out new leaves till toward spring, this may be done 

 till near Christmas. It should be repeated once in three years. 

 It will thrive in any soil or situation; but will be strongest 

 in a soft, gentle, and not too moist loam. The bulb-bearing 

 varieties may also be increased without taking up the plants, 

 by means of the little bulbs that are put forth in plenty from 

 the axils of the leaves. Both these sorts, with their varieties, 

 will thrive under the shade of trees, and are therefore proper 

 to be introduced into plantations, and on the borders of woods. 



5. Liiium Foinponiuin; Pomponian Lily. Leaves scattered, 

 awl-shaped ; flowers turned back ; corollas rolled back. This 

 has a pretty large scaly root, from which rises an upright stalk 

 nearly three feet high. The upper part of the stalk divides 

 into four or five peduncles, each sustaining a single flower of a 

 fine carmine colour, with a few dark spots scattered over it. 

 They appear in July, and in hot seasons continue a consider- 

 able time in beauty. The peduncles are very long, so that 

 the flowers spread out very wide. Native of the Pyrenees, 

 Japan, and China. This, and the four following species, 

 may be propagated by offsets, which some produce in great 

 plenty, but others send out very few, and are therefore more 

 scarce. The roots may be taken up when the stalks decay, 

 and if there be a necessity for keeping them out of the ground 

 to remove them to a distant place, they should be wrapped 

 in dry moss, which will preserve them for two months. The 

 best time to replant them is at the beginning of October, but 

 if the ground be not ready to receive them, they should be 

 covered with dry sand or wrapped in moss, to prevent the 

 scales from shrinking, which weakens the bulbs, and often 

 occasions them to be mouldy and rot. The roots should ba 

 planted five or six inches deep in the ground, especially if 



