L I L 



L I L 



sort ; or by laying down the branches, — but they 

 seldom shoot so fast as to produce branches pro- 

 per tor this purpose ; and being more tender, they 

 should have a dry soil and a warm situation : 

 in a rich soil they soon lose their variegation, 

 and become plain. The Italian or Evergreen 

 sort, which is now generally found in the nurse- 

 ries, is equally hardy, and thrives in almost any 

 situation : it is increased in the same manner ; 

 but as it seldom produces berries in this cli- 

 mate, they must be procured from the place of 

 its native growth. 



The plants, besides their use as above, may be 

 introduced in the shrubberies and other parts, by 

 way of variety, especially the Evergreen sort. 



LILAC. See Syringa. 



LILIUM, a genus containing plants of the 

 bulbous-rooted flowery perennial kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Hexandria 

 Monogynla, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Coronarice. 



The characters are : that there is no calyx : 

 the corolla is six-petalled, bell-shaped, narrow- 

 ed beneath : petals upright, incumbent, obtuse- 

 ly carinatcd on the back, gradually more ex- 

 panding, wider ; with thick, reflex, obtuse tips : 

 nectary, a longitudinal, tubular line, engraven 

 on each petal from the base to the middle : the 

 stamina have six awl-shaped filaments, up- 

 right, shorter than the corolla : anthers oblong, 

 incumbent : the pistillum is an oblong germ, 

 cylindric, striated with six furrows: style cy- 

 lindric, length of the corolla : stigma thickish, 

 triangular : the pericarpium is an oblong six- 

 furrowed capsule, with a three-cornered, hol- 

 low, obtuse tip, three-celled, three-valved ; the 

 valves connected by hairs disposed in a cancel- 

 lated manner ; the seeds are numerous, incum- 

 bent in a twin order; flat, outwardly semi-orbi- 

 cular. 



The species cidtivated are : 1 L. candidi/rn, 

 Common White Lily ; 2. L. Catesbcei, Cates- 

 bv's Lily ; .3. i. bulhiferum, Bulb-bearing or 

 Orange Lily ; 4. L.Marlagon, Purple Martagon 

 Lilv, or Turk's Cap ; 5. L. Pompo/iium, Poni- 

 ponian Lily; 6. L. chalcedorikinn, Scarlet ftjar- 

 tagonLily ; 7 • L. superljim. Great Yellow Mar- 

 tagon Lily; 8. L. Canademc. Canada Martagon 

 Lilv ; 9. L. Camschatcerise, Kanitschatka Lily ; 

 10. L. F/dladelphkum, Philadelphian Martagon 

 Lilv. 



'I'he first has a large bulb, from which proceed 

 several succulent fibres : the stem stout, round, 

 upright, usually about three feet in height : the 

 leaves numerous, long, narrow-pointed, smooth, 

 sessile : the flowers large and while, terminat- 

 ing the stem in a cluster on short peduncles : 

 t#e petals within of a beautiful shining white ; 



on the outside ridged and less luminous. It is a 

 native of the Levant, flowering in June and 

 July. 



The principal varieties are ; with sf ripsd flowers, 

 or withblotched purplefiowers, orwith variegated 

 striped leaves, or with yellow- edged leaves, with 

 double flowers, and with pendulcnis flowers. 



The first of these varieties is now become 

 common; but the purple stain giving the flower 

 a dull colour, the common white is generally 

 preferred : tlie second 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 finelv 

 edged with a broad yellow band, make a pretty 

 appearance during the winterand spring months, 

 as it flowers earlier than the plain sort : the 

 third is of little value, as the flowers never open 

 well unless they are covered with glasses, nor 

 have they any of the rich odour of the com- 

 mon sort: the fourth came originally from 

 Constantinople ; the stalk is much more slen- 

 der ; the leaves narrower and fewer in number ; 

 the flowers not quite so large, and the petals 

 more contracted at the base ; they alwa\ s hang 

 downwards ; the stalks are son)etimes very 

 broad and flat, appearing as if two or three were 

 joined together : when this happens, thev sus- 

 tain from sixty to one hundred flowers, and 

 sometimes more; this however is merely acci- 

 dental, as the same root scarcely ever produces 

 the same two years together. 



The second species is one of the least of the 

 cultivated sorts, the whole plant when in bloom 

 being frequently little more than a foot high ; 

 in its native soil it is described as growinc; to 

 the height of two feet: the stalk is terminated 

 by one upright flower: it is jiurple, slender, up- 

 right, round, smooth with a slight glaucous 

 bloom on it, solid, stiflish : the root-lea"ves few, 

 often only on the barren plant, on long peti- 

 oles : the stem-leaves are numerous, alternately 

 scattered, sessile, curved back, narrow-lanceo- 

 late, the upper ones gradually more ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, quite entire, blunt with a purple tip, 

 even on both sides, slenderlv nerved, flat, a little 

 fleshy, shrivellmg: the ilower has no scent, but 

 is said by Cateshy, to be variously shaded wilh 

 red, orange, and lemon colours: it is remarked 

 by Mr. Curtis, that it varies considerably in the 

 breadth of its petals, in their colour and spots ; 

 and that it flowers usuallv in July or August. 



Thetliird hasasubovate bulb in its native state, 

 consisting of thick whitelooselv imbricate scales, 

 putting out a few thick fibres from the bottom : 

 the stem upright, a foot and half high, stri- 

 ated-angular, smooth or slightly hairy, wilh nu- 

 merous scattereil leaves, the upper ones spreud- 

 1 2 



