Notes and Glcatiings. aj 



LiLlUM GIGANTEUM. — The following is the history of six plants of this lily, 

 which have flowered at Jardinc Hall, Lockerby, this season : Three years ago, we 

 had a plant of it in flower in the greenhouse. Being the first I ever had under my 

 charge, I was not quite sure about its propagation ; but, judging by the appear- 

 ance of them and some young bulbs growing amongst the roots on the surface 

 of the soil, I knew that the old bulb was gone, and that these young ones were 

 intended to become giants in future. Six of these young bulbs I potted, and 

 put into a frame. After they were established, they were set outside, where they 

 remained till frost became dangerous, when they were put into the greenhouse, 

 and kept pretty dry all winter. In May, last year, two of these were planted out 

 in the lawn : the others were shifted into larger pots, and were set outside also. 

 When frost took the leaves of those that were planted out, I covered them with 

 a little dry fern ; those in pots being returned to the greenhouse. In March last, 

 the fern was removed, as the bulbs were beginning to grow, and spruce branches 

 stuck round them substituted. They soon made leaves ; and, in May, the flower- 

 stem made its appearance : both flowered in June, and are now ripening seed. 

 One of these produced sixteen, and the other seventeen blooms, each bloom 

 measuring seven inches across ; and the stem was eight feet in height. Those in 

 the greenhouse commenced to grow in February: two I planted out in March la§t, 

 when they were in full leaf, just a short time before the flower-stem commenced 

 to grow. These stood twelve degrees of frost, with only a few spruce branches for 

 protection. I have seen the leaves frozen, and hanging on the ground as if quite 

 killed ; but they always recovered. These measure seven feet in height, and on 

 each are seventeen blooms. Two are still inside : these are growing in boxes 

 that would hold about the same quantity of soil as a No. i pot. The largest of 

 them produced a stem eleven feet in height, and ten inches in circumference, 

 one foot above the soil. It furnished twenty blooms, each measuring seven 

 inches across : those inside flowered first, those planted in March next, and 

 those that stood out all winter last. By planting in this way, we had a fine suc- 

 cession, as each plant lasted about a fortnight in flower. I may mention that 

 the soil used was loam, rotten cow-dung, and sand, in about equal parts, with 

 a liberal supply of water when the stem was growing. Accompanying this is a 

 photograph of one of my best plants, which will indicate the fine appearance 

 such a noble lily has on a lawn. This lily has flowered in several places in 

 the open ground. The bulb does not die after the flowering is over ; but the 

 leaves disappear in autumn, and are again renewed in spring. The gigantic lily 

 was first brought to notice by the late Dr. N. Wallich, by whom a fine figure of 

 it has been given in his great work, the " Plantae Rariores Asiaticas." In the 

 Himalayas it grows in shady places, in rich loam, at altitudes of from seven 

 thousand to eight thousand feet, as at the western base of the Dodecatowli 

 Mountain in Eastern Gurhwal, on the road leading to Lbbah ; and in the val- 

 leys below Tyne Tiba, on the ascent to Koth, in Western Gurhwal, it is known 

 under the native name, Naltoora. When in perfect flower, it is one of the finest 

 lilies met with in the vegetable kingdom, and is well worthy of more attention 

 than it receives. There is another fine lily common in the Himalayas, though 

 rarely seen in this country, — L. Wallichiajmm, which is also well worthy of at- 



