MAIANTHEMUM 



LILY OBDEB 



CONVALLAEIA 813 



the fact that the natives of Sikkim use 

 the young flower-heads in their green 

 sheaths as a pot herb. 



Culture do. as above. It grows best 

 in a mixture of sandy peat and loam in 

 partially shaded and sheltered spots. 



S. racemosa {Convallaria racemoaa). 

 False Spikenard. — A North American 

 species 2-3 ft. high, with oblong or lance- 

 shaped ascending leaves 3-9 in. long, 

 pale green and somewhat downy beneath. 

 The small whitish flowers are borne in 

 dense panicles in May and June. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



S. stellata (Convallaria stellata). — A 

 native of N.W. America 1-2 ft. high, with 

 oblong or lance-shaped leaves 2-6 in. 

 long, sessile and half stem-clasping, 

 glaucous and somewhat downy beneath. 

 The small white starry flowers are borne 

 in dense racemes in May, and have 

 earned for the plant the popular name of 

 ' Star.flowered Lily of the Valley.' 



Culture da. as above. 



MAIANTHEMUM (Twin -leaved 

 Lily op the Valley). — A genus contain- 

 ing only the following species : — 



M. Convallaria [M. hifolium ; Con- 

 vallaria hifolia ; Smilacina bifolia ; 8. 

 canadensis). — A very rare British plant, 

 but also found throughout the north tem- 

 perate regions of the Old and New World. 

 It grows 4-8 in. high, having slender 

 creeping rootstocks and flexuous stems, 

 furnished with a pair of alternate, broadly 

 ovate, heart-shaped, stalked leaves 2-3 in. 

 long, deeply lobed at the base, thickly 

 nerved. The small white sweetly 

 scented flowers J in. across appear in 

 May and June in rather dense erect 

 racemes, and are remarkable for having 

 only 4 free oblong spreading segments, 

 and 4 hypogynous stamens. They are 

 succeeded by roundish white dotted berries 

 about the size of a small pea. 



Culture and Propagation. — This plant 

 is suitable for the rock garden in more or 

 less shaded spots in fairly good soil. It 

 may be increased by dividing the creeping 

 rootstocks. 



CONVALLARIA (Lily or the 

 Valley). — This genus also consists of a 

 single species : — 



C. majalis The characters of this 



charming and well-known native plant 

 are a creeping underground rootstock 

 from which arise 2 ovate lance-shaped 



leaves 6-8 in. long, with slender sheath- 

 ing stalks. In May and June an angular 

 lateral scape 6-10 in. long appears, with 

 a terminal raceme of pretty drooping 

 broad roundish bell-shaped flowers, having 

 6 short recurved or spreading lobes or 

 teeth, and emitting a delightful fragrance. 

 If allowed to persist they are likely to be 

 succeeded by round red berries as large as 

 peas. 



There are several forms of the Lily of 

 the Valley differing chiefly in the size 

 and number of the flowers, or ' bells ' 

 as gardeners call them, borne on the 

 stalks. What are known as the Berlin 

 or German Lilies of the Valley are in 

 greater demand for forcing than are 

 the Dutch varieties. Among the single- 

 flowered forms may be mentioned Fortdn's 

 variety which has fine foliage and tall 

 spikes with large beUs of flowers ; the 

 Victoria variety is a splendid form in the 

 same way ; proUficans is a new form 

 found in a private garden in Italy by the 

 late Dr. von Regel. It has large white 

 flowers flushed with pink inside, borne on 

 erect branching panicles 2 ft. or more high, 

 and very fragrant ; rosea has rose-tinted 

 flowers, and there is also a double rose 

 form, but neither is so charming as the 

 white varieties, among which is one 

 having the leaves striped with gold. The 

 double-flowered Lily of the Valley {flore 

 plena) is by no means an improvement 

 on the single-flowered one, although the 

 flowers last well when cut. 



Culture and Propagation. — Lilies of 

 the Valley are fairly easy to grow well, 

 and they repay for any little attention 

 and good treatment they receive. They 

 prefer a rich sandy weU-drained loam, 

 enriched with manure and decayed leaves, 

 and always succeed best in moist shaded 

 positions such as under a north or west 

 wall or in any shady place with good soil 

 and plenty of air overhead. 



About the middle or end of September 

 is the best time to plant Lilies of the 

 VaUey. Strong plump weU-ripened 

 ' crowns ' should be selected if bloom is 

 required the following season. When the 

 young slender crowns or rhizomes are 

 used they take a couple of years to reach 

 the flowering stage. The crowns should 

 be 2-3 in. apart or even more. Fine 

 rich sou should be carefully worked in 

 between and over them, and the bed may 

 afterwards receive a layer of weU-rotted 

 manure. For three or four years the beds 



