92 



NOTES ON LILIES 



new bulb, and this, at the time the sketch was made in November, 

 1876, had already commenced to throw up its growth or flower stem. 

 This is the earliest of all Lilies in making its growth, if we except 

 j in which the young scale leaves of autumn succeed the 



foliage of spring so quickly, 

 that practically it may be 

 considered an evergreen 

 species. 



L. Neilgherrense. The Lily 

 now grown in gardens under 

 this name like others, 

 a very variable one is by 

 Mr. Baker held to be a form 

 of Longiflorum, and will be 

 so considered here, although 

 differing in its late -blooming 

 habits and curious method 

 of self - increase, apart al- 

 together from its larger 

 flowers, different geographi- 

 cal distribution, and occa- 

 sional change of colour. Its 

 bulb-growth is very similar 

 to that of Longiflorum, but 

 the scales are fewer and 

 thicker or more fleshy, and 

 the entire bulb is generally 

 more pointed, the scales 

 being tinged with purple, as 

 in its ally Wallicliianum, and 

 not uniformly yellow, as in 

 the forms of Longiflorum 

 proper. It has been pointed out that the bulbs of " this species have 

 the merit of increasing rapidly in size, and multiplying both by offsets 

 and by the long horizontal subterranean stems, which are so remark- 

 able in some specimens. I have seen them come up more than 1 foot 

 from the bulb, and even descend to the bottom of the pot and come 

 out through the drain hole." Mr. Barr kindly allowed me to turn out 

 and examine several of his large pots of this species, in each of which 

 ten or twelve bulbs had been placed, and about half of these bulbs had 

 thrown up flower stems, and had also increased in size. Some of the 

 bulbs, however, and, as it seemed to me, the weaker ones, had pro- 

 duced underground stems which had coiled themselves around the 

 sides of the pots, and bore small bulbs at intervals, as shown in the 



* The bulb figured here is, I believe, that of a small Eximium ; the true Longi- 

 florum has, as described, a flattened top and restricted base like the figure of Brownii, 

 on page 96. 



L. Longiflorum (Japan) ; one-half natural size ; 

 cultivated bulbs ; colour, yellow. 



N.B. The bulb* of this has often the flattened 

 top and restricted base of>rownii, but is always 

 white or clear yellow, never purple-stained. 



