LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



LILY, THE WHITE WATER. 



species by the claws of the petals. The colour 

 of the flower is orange-red. Protect it in win- 

 ter by spreading coal ashes over it. 



The American or Canadian lily (L. Cana- 

 dense'), has flowers of a yellowish orange. It 

 is a fine plant, growing 2 or 3 feet high, and 

 found in abundance on the marshy shores of 

 the Delaware below Philadelphia. It is peren- 

 nial, and flowers in July. 



The Superb American lily (L. superbwn), is 

 a magnificent plant, which, says Dr. Wm. P. 

 C. Barton, may be ranked among the finest 

 vegetable productions of the United States. It 

 frequently attains the height of 6 or 7 feet, 

 supporting a profusion of elegant deep scarlet 

 flowers. It is found on the marshy shores of 

 the Delaware, and in the bogs of New Jersey 

 and other states. A perennial, flowering in 

 July and August. 



The common white lily (L. candiduni), is too 

 well known to need description. It is hardy, 

 and produces a beautiful flower, the fragrant 

 odour of which is so powerful as to induce 

 fainting if numbers of them be kept over night 

 in a close apartment. The bulb roasted is 

 emollient and suppurative. All descriptions 

 of lilies are propagated freely by offsets from 

 the bulbs, which should be taken up when the 

 stem decays, and parted and replanted early in 

 October, 5 to 6 inches deep, in a light, dry soil. 

 The bulbs of martagons must never be trans- 

 planted till after the stem is decayed, as they 

 will not bear being disturbed. Many varieties 

 of lilies are produced from seed, which is 

 treated in the same way as tulip seed. 



LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY (Convallaria ma- 

 jalis, from the Latin mnvallis, a valley). This 

 very elegant sweet-scented indigenous peren- 

 nial is not reckoned among the lily tribe. It 

 grows in woods, heaths, and at the fool of hills, 

 flourishing and shedding its fragrance in May 

 and June. The roots are thread-shaped, creep- 

 ing, much entangled. Leaves two, radical, 

 eliptical, 3 or 4 inches long, acute, entire, 

 many-ribbed, smooth-stalked. Flower-stalk 

 solitary, simple, radical, naked, semi-cylindri- 

 cal, bearing a simple curved cluster of seve- 

 ral pendulous, cup-shaped, white flowers, with 

 rather distant segments. Berry as large as a 

 black currant, scarlet. There are varieties 

 with double or with purple flowers, sometimes 

 seen in gardens ; but not easy of cultivation, 

 and far less elegant than the wild kind, which 

 is among the most favourite of our native 

 flowers. 



This vegetable is eaten by sheep and goats, 

 but refused by cows, horses, and swine. The 

 flowers when dried have a narcotic scent, and 

 if reduced to powder excite sneezing; hence 

 they are sometimes used as a sternutatory. A 

 beautiful green colour may be prepared from 

 the leaves, with the addition of lime. The lily- 

 of-the-valley will grow in any moist, shady 

 situation, and even under the drip of trees 

 where few other plants would succeed. It is 

 multiplied by dividing the roots in autumn, 

 See SOLOMON'S SEAL. 



LILY, THE DAY (Hemerocallis, from >^ c * 

 a day, and jtaAA&c, beauty; alluding to the beauty 

 and duration of the flowers). This is an orna- 

 mental genus of exotic flowering plants of the 

 714 



simplest culture, thriving well in any light 

 oamy soil, and readily increased by divisions. 

 The most common species are the yellow day- 

 ily (H.flava), a native of Siberia, blowing yel- 

 ow flowers in June, and the fulvous or copper- 

 coloured day-lily (H. fulva), a native of the 

 Levant, blowing fulvous flowers in July and 

 August, 



LILY, THE WHITE WATER. Candock, 

 or water-socks. (Nymphcea, from nymphe, a 

 water-nymph ; alluding to the habitation of the 

 plants.) These are beautiful plants, well wor- 

 thy of cultivating in every collection. The 

 stove species should be grown in tubs of Avater, 

 placed in a warm part of the house, with some 

 rich loamy soil at the bottom. The hardy kinds 

 may be grown in ponds, canals, &c. They are 

 all increased either by seeds, dividing the roots, 

 or separating the tubers. (Paxton.) 



The great white water-lily (N. alba') is a 

 beautiful perennial, native of Great Britain, 

 perhaps the most magnificent of all its nativ^ 

 flowers, growing in clear ponds and slow rivers. 

 The root is tuberous, horizontal, sending down 

 numerous long, stout radicles which are fibrous 

 at the extremity ; leaves floating, a span wide, 

 oval, heart-shaped, with nearly parallel or close 

 lobes at the base, entire, smooth. Every part 

 of the herb is slightly vascular, perspiring ra- 

 pidly, and, though so succulent, drying very 

 soon. Flowers four or five inches wide, white, 

 with yellow stamens and pistil ; the upper sur- 

 face of the calyx leaves white, often tinged 

 with pale red, generally destitute of scent. The 

 stems are superior to oak-galls for dyeing green. 

 The roots are astringent, and a weak infusion 

 is said to be useful in lepra. The roots are 

 used in Ireland and Jura for dyeing a brown 

 colour. The Egyptians eat the roots boiled, 

 and convert the seeds into bread. The Swedes 

 also have used this root in prevailing dearth, 

 as a substitute for corn ; though it requires to 

 be previously divested of its bitter taste by fre- 

 quent washings. According to Gleditsch, the 

 roots of this species and of the yellow lily are 

 equally useful in tanning and currying. This 

 plant is eaten by hogs, but disliked by goats, 

 and totally rejected by cows and horses. 



The white water-lily looks very handsome 

 in sheets of water, or ponds in ornamented 

 grounds, blowing its large flowers in June and 

 July. They have a faint, sweet scent, and ex- 

 pand in sunshine, in the middle of the day only, 

 closing towards evening, when they recline on 

 the surface of the water, or sink beneath it. 

 The same circumstance is recorded of the 

 Egyptian N. lotus, from the^ most remote anti- 

 quity. The stimulus of liglit, which indeed acts 

 evidently on many other blossoms and leaves, 

 expands and raises with peculiar force these 

 splendid white flowers, that the pollen may 

 reach the stigma uninjured; and when that 

 stimulus ceases to act, they close again, droop- 

 ing by their own weight to a certain depth. 

 When the flower-seeds ripen in August, the 

 plant sinks again to the bottom. In transplant- 

 ing the water-lily, the pond must be entered, 

 the stem of the plant felt for, and the roots dug 

 up with a large ball of its mud left round them ; 

 place it in an old fish-basket, and remove it 

 j speedily, to sink it in the place intended for its 



