THE LILY FAMILY. 371 



Japanese and American kinds also show traces either of 

 former culture or natural cross-breeding. Not a little has 

 already been done by cultivators and botanists in obtaining 

 hybrids and seminal forms of Lilium. 



Among the first hybrids offered for sale in this country 

 appear to be varieties obtained by blending L. bulbiferum and 

 Z. atrosanguineum (a variety of L. elegans L. Thunbergianum, 

 Hort.) These were sent out from Mr Groom's nursery at 

 Walworth, and are thus described in Glenny's 'Garden 

 Almanack : '- 



"Duke of Wellington, about 16 inches high; briglit rich red 

 colour, with a few dark-red blotches; a fine rich kind, producing 

 from ten to fourteen flowers on a stem. Nabob, about 2 2 inches 

 high ; bright orange, with very dark blood-coloured blotches ; a 

 very fine kind, producing from twelve to sixteen flowers on each 

 stem. Voltaire, about 13 inches high; light orange with red- 

 brown blotches ; the best of the light-coloured sorts ; produces 

 from twelve to sixteen flowers on a stem. Louis Philippe, 

 about 26 inches high; very bright deep red, with a few blotches 

 and black spots, producing from sixteen to twenty flowers on a 

 stem ; an extra fine kind. Rubens, about 1 7 inches high ; rich 

 dark red, with a few blotches and some black spots ; produces 

 from ten to fourteen flowers on a stem. Titian, 15 inches high ; 

 red orange with a few dark spots; free bloomer, producing 

 from sixteen to twenty flowers on a stem ; a very handsome 

 variety. Duke of Devonshire, about 13 inches high; lightish- 

 red and dark-red blotches ; a fine kind, and free bloomer. 

 Duke of Sutherland, about 1 6 inches high ; bright red colour, 

 lightly blotched ; a fine flower, producing from twelve to six- 

 teen flowers on a stem. Napoleon, about 1 8 inches high ; 

 light red, light blotches ; a very free bloomer, and fine flower. 

 Marshal Soult, about 14 inches high; bright red, and fine 

 dark blotches, producing from twelve to sixteen flowers on a 

 stem ; an extra fine sort. Don Juan, about 1 7 inches high ; 

 light red with blotches ; a good flower, producing from ten to 

 fourteen flowers on a stem. Sappho, about 16 inches high; 

 fine dark-red colour, well blotched with dark blood colour ; a 

 free bloomer, and an extra fine flower." 



Mr Groom seems to have been one of the most enlightened 

 florists of his time, for prior to 1847 he had raised numerous 

 seminal forms of L. speciosum a now well-known plant, but 

 then comparatively new, having been introduced from Japan in 

 1833. These varieties were described in the gardening peri- 

 odicals at the time as varying from pure white to deep rosy 

 crimson, variously spotted, just as we find the case in seedlings 



