CHAPTER XX 

 LILIACE^ (LUy Family) 



Representatives of the lily family are found all over the 

 world, although the family is best developed in drier parts of 

 the temperate zone. The family is by no means of as great 

 economic importance as the grass family. A number of 

 representatives are cultivated as vegetables, the principal 

 ones being onions and asparagus. Yucca, lily (Lilium), 

 hyacinth and tulip are chief among those cultivated as 

 ornamentals. 



Habit, Roots. — Most members of the family are fleshy 

 herbs from bulbs or rhizomes. Some species of Aloe and 

 DraccBna, however, are shrubs or small trees. In herbace- 

 ous forms, the roots are mostly fibrous and shallow, sometimes 

 fleshy and extending to considerable depths in the soil. 



Stems. — Both underground and aerial stems are borne. 

 Underground stems in the family are either rhizomes or 

 bulbs. The character of rhizomes has been described (page 

 29). Bulbs are fleshy stems with a very short, usually con- 

 ical stem upon which are many fleshy, overlapping leaves 

 (Fig. 14). Bulbs, like rootstocks or rhizomes, are storage 

 organs. They are made use of in vegetative propagation. 

 The aerial stems may be leafy or free of leaves for a long dis- 

 tance. In Yucca — the soapweed or Spanish bayonet — of 

 the semi-arid sections of the country, the base of the aerial 

 stem is persistent from year to year. 



Leaves. — The leaves are mostly linear, seldom divided or 

 toothed, and not divided into petiole and blade. 



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