BOOK XXI. x. 3o XI. 23 



very long tvvig.s and five petals, the second among 

 the Greek roses." Every rose however improves 

 with pruning and burning ; by transplanting also, as 

 with vines, thcre is the best and quickest success if 

 sHps of the length of four fingers or more are planted 

 after the setting of the Pleiades,'' and then trans- 

 phmted at intervals of one foot while the west wind 

 is blowing, the earth being frequently turned over 

 around them. Those who try to get their roses 

 early, dig a trench a foot deep about the root, 

 pouring in warni water as the cup is beginning to 

 bud. 



XI. The Hly<^ comes nearest to the rose in fame, i.iUes. 

 and there is a certain relationsliip shown in the 

 ointment and oil, which they call Hlinum (oil of 

 liHes). When blended with i*oses, also, the Hly gives 

 a grand combination, making its first appearance 

 when the rose is in mid-season. No flower grows 

 taller ; sometimes it reaches three cubits, its neck 

 always droojiing under the weight of a head too 

 heavy for it. The flower is of an exceeding white- 

 ness, fluted on the outside, narrow at the bottom and 

 gradually expanding in width after tlie fasliion of a 

 basket.'' Tlie Hps curve outwards and upwards aH 

 round ; the slender pistil and stamens,*^ the colour 

 of safFron, standing upright in the centre. So the 

 perfume of the Hly, as well as its colour, is two-fokl, 

 there being one for the corolla, and another for the 

 stamens, the difference being slight./ In fact when 

 it is used to make ointment or oil the petals too are 

 not despised. There is a flower not unHke the lily 

 growing on the plant caUed the convolvulus,'' that 



' Thi3 is not a lily, but the great white convolvulus, nr 

 Devii's Garter. 



177 



