THE LILY TRIBE. 69 



tensive ; for in reality the showy tulips, the speckled 

 bell-shaped fritillaries, the sweet tuberose, the ele- 

 gant agapanthus, and the fragrant hyacinths, rank 

 with lilies ; and there are many useful plants, such 

 as onions, asparagus, squills, aloes, &c., which are 

 also placed by Lindley in his great order of Lily- 

 worts." 



" I thought you had told us about aloes before, 

 papa," said Robert. 



" I spoke of the Agave, or American aloe, which 

 is said to flower once in a hundred years ; but 

 that is of a different family, and has very different 

 properties from the true aloes, several species of 

 which are used in medicine.* These latter are 

 tree-like plants growing in tropical countries. 

 Some of the relations of our lilies, indeed, grow to 

 a majestic height in those warm climates, and from 

 their stem and leaves various gums or resins are 

 collected, some of which are useful in medicine, 

 especially dragon's blood, the strange name of a 

 resin which comes from a very large species,f 

 growing to the height of sixty or seventy feet in 

 the Canary Islands." 



* Aloe vulgaris, A. soccotrina, and others. 

 t Dracxnas Dtaco. 



