ON LILIES 



bitterness through crossing but got no favorable 

 results. 



Some Wider Hybridizations 



It has already been stated that the California 

 lilies do not cross readily with the foreign species. 

 Nevertheless I have made successful hybridizations 

 in many cases. 



Among the most interesting of these crosses was 

 one in which the so-called Lily of the Incas 

 (Alstroemeria — not a true lily, having no bulb), of 

 South America, was crossed with the familiar Cal- 

 ifornia species (L. pardalinum) , already so often 

 referred to. 



Of some of these hybrids I raised a large num- 

 ber, and they presented interesting variations. 



Some of them, when they bloomed, seemed 

 almost counterparts of the South American parent 

 except that their petals recurved like those of the 

 California lily. Some were spotted like the Cali- 

 fornia parent, and some were quite without spots. 

 As a rule, however, these hybrids, even though pro- 

 ducing fairly abundant foliage, did not blossom 

 at all, and at best they were small and insignificant, 

 and within a year or two most of them had disap- 

 peared. They seemed to produce inferior bulbs 

 that could not withstand the winter. 



As further evidencing the lack of virility of 

 these hybrids, it may be noted that all of them were 



[265] 



