PROPAGATION OF LILIES 69 



Increase by bulbils. A few Lilies, notably L. tigrinum 

 and some of its varieties, L. bulbiferum, L. Henryi, and 

 L. sulphur eum produce small bulbils in the axils of the 

 leaves, which, placed under favourable conditions, grow 

 freely. So prolific is ,. tigrinum in this respect that 

 where old plants have flowered in one spot there is often 

 during the following summer a crop of narrow grass- 

 like leaves, the produce of the bulbils that have dropped 

 from the stems after flowering. 



When these stem bulbils are required for propagation 

 they will grow larger than otherwise before dropping 

 if the upper part of the flower stems are cut previous 

 to the full expansion of the flowers, as these retard the 

 growth of the bulbils. 



Bulbils should be treated in the same way as seeds, 

 except that the bulbils should not be sown broadcast but 

 carefully set in the soil with the bases downwards, and 

 then covered with soil and a layer of moss. 



As a rule bulbils reach a flowering size before seed- 

 lings or scale-raised plants. L. sulphureum bears the 

 largest bulbils of any cultivated Lily, and affords a ready 

 method of propagating this grand Lily. 



