LILIES 599 
long ; fifty to one hundred flowers in a broad, dense raceme; scape stout, 
6 to 12 inches high; May. There is a var. alba. 
S. srprrica (Siberian). Leaves two to four, nearly erect, 4 to 6 
inches long. Flowers one to three on a scape, deep blue, 4 inch long, 
segments spreading; scapes one to six to a bulb, 3 to 6 inches high; 
February. Plate 278. 
S. VERNA (spring). Sea Onion. Leaves 3 to 10 inches long, concave, 
recurved. Flowers bright pale blue, } inch across, fragrant, six to twelve 
in a raceme ; scapes one or two, shorter than leaves; April. Native. 
Scillas are among the convenient class of plants that 
do well in most garden soils, and only require planting. 
This should be done about October, when the bulbs are ripe and dormant. 
They should be placed in situations where they may be allowed to remain 
for several years without interference. They do well in the rock-garden, 
the herbaceous border, where dwarf Saxifrages, Arabis, and plants of 
similar dwarf habit may be planted over them; or in the wild garden 
amongst grass. S. sibirica and several others will do well in pots, if 
these are stood in a cold house. S. peruviana is a greenhouse plant. 
Where bulbs can be obtained in quantity, they should be planted along 
woodland walks in little clumps, which will soon spread, especially if the 
seeds are allowed to sow themselves. 
Description of ‘© Scilla sibirica, the Siberian Squill; naturalsize. Fig. 
Plate 278. is a section of the bulb; 2, the unexpanded flower-bud ; 
and 3, a section through the flower. 
Cultivation. 
LILIES 
Natural Order Lintace®. Genus Lilium 
Littum (the old Latin name). A genus of about forty-five species of 
perennial bulbous herbs, whose bulbs are composed of many overlapping 
fleshy scales. The leaves all originate from the stem, and are either 
alternate or in whorls, of variable shape, and sometimes with little 
bulbils in the axils. The flowers are large and showy, honeyed, of six 
entirely unconnected perianth-segments, which drop off when fertilisa- 
tion has been effected. There are six stamens attached round the ovary 
or to the base of the segments; the filaments long and awl-shaped, the 
anthers large and attached above the base, so that they swing lightly 
poised on the tip of the filaments. The ovary is six-grooved, the style 
rounded, the stigma blunt, and the cells containing many ovules. The 
iad 
