LILIUM CANADENSE.— AMERICAN YELLOW LILY. 27 
decorum, that the new world may fully atone for the injustice, 
for of the numerous species indigenous to America, there is not 
one white among them all. 
Our present species, Lilia Canadense, or American yellow 
Lily, we believe to be the earliest of all our native species to 
flower; for though it is not so stated in our text-books, it is not 
unusual to find it in bloom in the vicinity of Philadelphia the last 
of May or very early in June. This season (1878) particularly 
it was noted that not a single flower could be obtained on the 
20th of June, all being over blown by that time. The flowers 
vary very much in color from deep yellow to a rich crimson in 
different plants. Much remains yet to be learned of Lilies, and 
especially of this species. There is a form of it from Mississippi 
which commences to flower just as the form from New Jersey goes 
out of bloom, and which produces no seeds. The flowers also 
are of a richer color, and more revolute than Wood's description 
would imply. Further it will amply repay the student to watch 
the behavior of the flowers when about to seed. When the flower 
first opens it hangs on its sub-erect stem, the pistil curving but 
little upwards. It makes no growth whatever for several days, 
or until the petals begin to fade,—then the pistil takes an upward 
curve, sometimes so much as to have its apex pointing towards 
the ovary. For several days after this the ovary or pistil remains 
stationary, when at length the formsr assumes a straight line 
with the pedicel, and finally erect, in which position the seed 
vessel matures. We thus see that growth in nature is not by 
regular advances; but is by leaps, or as we say, rhythmical. 
There is a great general resemblance between the species of 
lilies, and it is not easy to distinguish one from another. The 
yellow Lily approaches the Z. saferdum, but is generally out of 
flower before that commences to open; the divisions of the peri- 
anth or flower cup as a general rule do not turn back quite so 
much,—but a good distinction lies in the terminal character of 
the flowers in the best specimens of our species; that is, the 
flowers seem to come out in a bunch or cluster at the top of the 
