DESCRIPTIVE AND CULTURAL NOTES 39 



during the dormant stage in winter. Some growers 

 surround the bulb in rubble so that it is never in direct 

 contact with the soil, and this is a hint worth noting. 



L. spedosum. This very beautiful Lily is deservedly 

 a favourite both for the open air garden and pot culture 

 under glass. Fortunately, it is one of the most satis- 

 factory and reliable to grow, for being of a strong 

 constitution it continues year after year without anxiety 

 to the grower, excepting in the cold and wet parts of the 

 country, where it requires either annual lifting or pro- 

 tection by mulching. In the south it is quite hardy in the 

 open, and in some old gardens established plants spread 

 to a large size without even any addition to the soil. It 

 is an old garden plant, having been sent from Japan in 

 1830, and is still known, especially among flower- 

 markets growers, under its old name L. lancifolium. In 

 the open it flowers towards the end of summer and early 

 autumn according to the district. Established bulbs 

 flower a fortnight earlier than newly planted bulbs, 

 which are generally better the second year than the first 

 after planting. 



When this Lily was first introduced its culture was 

 taken in hand by the Dutch, and till within the last 

 thirty years or so our supplies of bulbs were derived 

 from Holland ; but now large numbers are sent direct 

 to us from Japan, the varieties from there being distinct 

 from the Dutch forms. 



There are numerous varieties, some more distinct than 

 others. 



WHITE VARIETIES. Those that have received dis- 

 tinctive names are albiflorum or album (from Holland) ; 

 bulbs deep brown colour; stems, leafstalks, and unopened 

 buds tinged with chocolate ; flowers, white but slightly 

 suffused with pink. Kratzert, from Japan, often imported 

 under the name of album, differs widely from the Dutch 

 album, the bulbs being yellowish, the leaves pointed and 



