76 NOTES ON LILIES 



been kept in a dry atmosphere, just as the scales of Pine cones open 

 under similar conditions. It is, perhaps, impossible to discover why 

 the flat-scaled American Lilies such as Washingtonianum, Purpureum, 

 and one or two others, have assumed the sub-rhizomate or oblique- 

 creeping habit so characteristic of the thick short-scaled bulbs of 

 Pardalimim, Canadense, Parvum, and others. I have seen over a 

 thousand Wasliingtonianum bulbs, and considerable quantities of 

 Humboldtii, and Bloomerianwn Ocellatum, all showing this oblique 

 sub-rhizomatous habit ; and those of Washingtonianum,, in particular, 

 looked as though they had grown among flat rocks or shale found in 

 some Californian districts, embedded under 8 in. or 10 in. of the soil 

 in upland localities. Whatever the object of this bulb extension may 

 be, however, matters but little, the result of it being that the hungry 

 young roots are enabled to push their way into fresh soil every year. 

 Different conditions of nutriment again, as supplied by more or less 

 suitable soils, affect both the size, shape, and colour of all Lily bulbs, 

 although not so much as to remove the almost indescribable characters 

 by which the practised eye distinguishes them. The color of Lily 

 bulbs in different soils is very variable, this variation depending in a 

 great measure on the oxidization due to atmospheric exposure, this 

 exposure being regulated by the density of the soil, or its permea- 

 bility to light and air.* That there is some other inherent cause for 

 this colour development, however, is shown, since, in precisely the 

 same soil, bulbs of Brownii turn purple on exposure, while bulbs of 

 the Martagon and European Turk's-cap Lilies as invariably become 

 yellow under the same treatment. The whole question of local colour 

 predominating in any part of the plant, as shown in some Lilies, is 

 very interesting, and often is an aid to garden nomenclature, when 

 the colors of the flowers alone fail us. Thus, Mr. Barr informs us, 

 he was long in arriving at any tangible characters by which to dis- 

 tinguish the different varieties of the extremely variable Speciosum, 

 until he observed the local colour of the flower-stems, leaves, and 

 anthers of the flower, which simplified the whole matter. The Dutch 

 growers expose most of their bulbs so as to give them a good colour, 

 but, apart from mere appearance, the practice is not a desirable one ; 

 indeed, the purchaser has to pay for the colour in the shape of 

 lessened vigour, due to the evaporation consequent on exposure. Of 

 course this drying and colouring process is essential where bulbs have 

 to be stored for months, so as to be ready for transit or sale, but all 

 cultivators are now tolerably well agreed that the sooner Lily bulbs 

 are re-planted after they are moved from the soil the better. Colour 

 alone cannot be taken as a character in determining Lily bulbs, since 

 in 8peciosum we find yellow, orange, and brown, reddish-purple, and 



* Slight chemical differences in the fluid composition of the bulbs of the different 

 sorts would cause this, but each kiud preserves its peculiar tint unchanged under 

 exposure. 



