THE CANNA AND CALLA 53 



Common Lilies 



To a fair proportion of country folk, anything 

 that is not obviously a pink or a rose is char- 

 acterized as a lily. 



In fact the diversity among the lilies and allied 

 species is so great as almost to justify the wide 

 implications given the name colloquially. A 

 gigantic calla and a tiny trillium, for example, 

 seem about as far removed from each other as 

 two flowering plants can well be. And the most 

 familiar forms of the tiger lily, which may per- 

 haps be said to be the typical member of its tribe, 

 assuredly bear small resemblance to either calla 

 or trillium. 



Nevertheless there is a large group of lilies 

 that bear greater or less resemblance to the 

 typical species, having characteristics of form, 

 no less than of arrangement of stamens and 

 pistils, that are quite unmistakable to anyone 

 having the slightest botanical knowledge. 



A large number of these may be hybridized 

 readily, and I have personally worked with a 

 great number of species. But while the results 

 have in many cases been interesting, they have 

 not been very spectacular, or very important, 

 and it is not necessary here to go into details 

 with regard to most of them. It will suffice to 



