Calif oryiian Lilies. . gi 



dwarf, often blooming at three or four inches. In the bogs it 

 roots Itself in the tufts and grows a lovely plant, five feet high 

 with ten or fifteen fine blossoms. The leaves are dark glossy 

 green, and the blossom crimson. At Ukiah, Calif., I have grown 

 it easily in a reclaimed swamp in the shade. The soil is of vege- 

 table matter and sand, and always moist. In the same situation 

 L. parvum, L. pardalinum, L. Columbianum and L. Humboldtii, 

 as well as the Japanese L. auratum, make a vigorous growth, 

 and what is not usual for the latter, strong bulbs. At Ukiah there 

 is little fog, and there are days in the summer when the thermom- 

 eter will register above ioo° F. 



Lilium Parryi is similar to L. pardalinum in leaf and bulb, but 

 the bloom is lemon yellow and very fragrant. Of its cultivation 

 I cannot speak, but believe it easy of culture under the same con- 

 ditions as L. pardalinum. 



Lilium Columbianum is L. Humboldtii in miniature. The 

 bulb is small and compact. The stalk is two feet or so high, 

 and the flowers true lily-shaped, the petals recurved. In color it 

 is a light orange-yellow, dotted with dark spots. This lily has 

 for its native home the plains of the Columbia river. It is easy 

 to grow in cultivation, only needing a well-drained loam and or- 

 dinary moisture. 



The bulb of Lilium Humboldtii is often a pound in weight, and 

 is very compact. The stalk is strong and stiff. The leaves are 

 arranged in circles or whorls and are many in number. Eight 

 or ten blossoms to the stalk are not unusual. These 

 are of a reddish orange with round dark spots. Ordinarily this 

 lily will grow to a height of three or four feet. The finest speci- 

 men it has been my fortune to meet grew in the debris by the 

 side of a Sierra stream. It was over eight feet high and had 

 an enormous bulb. Ttiis lily increases by seeds only, in its na- 

 tive state, and where the natural conditions happen to be ex- 

 actly suitable is <ound in great numbers. I took over eight 

 thousand good bulbs from one place some years ago. It was 

 on a hillside in volcanic soil, where years ago the gold miners 

 had cut the timber. I had spent the previous week in hard 

 traveling to find five hundred. 



I once found fine bulbs in an oak grove near Chico. They 

 were doing splendidly in the black adobe of that section. In 

 cultivation I find it will thrive in clay loam or sandy soil. In 

 hot sections it does better planted in the shade. It needs to be 

 planted six inches to a foot deep, and will give the grower value 

 received. 



High up in the Sierras above the pine timber on those grand 

 slopes crowned with a mixed growth of wild cherry, manzanita 

 and ceanothus, Lilium Washingtonianum finds its most congenial 

 home. The soil is loose decomposed granite and mold. The 

 snow lies very deep in the winter and is late in melting. It keeps 

 the bulbs moist in their early growth, and when it is gone they 

 make a very rapid growth, often blooming six or eight weeks 



