ON LILIES 



To effect cross-poUenization, it is first neces- 

 sary to amputate the spadix, removing the upper 

 portion, with the staminate flowers. 



Pollen gathered from another spadix may then 

 be dusted with a camel's hair brush over the pistil- 

 late flowers at the base of the amputated spadix. 

 Of course no attempt is made to operate on the 

 individual flower; but the group as a whole may 

 thus readily be fertilized. 



As the pistillate and staminate flowers on any 

 given spadix ripen at different times, there is no 

 danger of self-fertilization if the operation of re- 

 moving the upper part of the spadix is performed 

 at the right time. 



Common Lilies 



To a fair proportion of country folk, anything 

 that is not obviously a pink or a rose is character- 

 ized as a lily. 



And in point of fact the diversity among the 

 lilies and allied species is so great as almost to 

 justify the wide implications given the name collo- 

 quially. A gigantic calla and a tiny trillium, for 

 example, seem about as far removed from each 

 other as two flowering plants can well be. And 

 the most familiar forms of the tiger lily, which 

 may perhaps be said to be the typical member of 

 its tribe, assuredly bear small resemblance to 

 either calla or trillium. 



[257] 



