212 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-BOOTED PLANTS. 



a feeble constitution ; that under the most favorable cir- 

 cumstances it would soon die out. We are confident 

 this is a mistake, and the oft-repeated failures with it 

 have been the results of over-estimating its hardiness. 

 Another cause of failure arises from planting bulbs that 

 have been kept too long out of the ground ; in a dry state 

 they lose vitality very quickly. The stems grow from 

 three to five feet high, and produce from three to twelve 

 beautifully reflexed flowers of a rich buff color, delicately 

 spotted. In flowering, it follows soon after Candidum. 



Lf. eximium. — See L. longiflorum, Page 215. 



L. fulgens. — A form of L. elegans, Page 208. 



Lf. giganteum. — This is a majestic plant, but like 

 L. cordifolium, it should not be classed with garden 

 Lilies, at least not in America. Its place is the 

 greenhouse, where, with proper management, it is a 

 grand plant. As many attempts are made to grow this 

 plant, and usually without success, we quote Dr. Wal- 

 lace, regarding its character. "A peculiarity of this 

 species (and, we believe, of L. cordifolium also) is, that 

 seedling bulbs or offsets grow on, increasing in size, till 

 in a period of from three to five years a large bulb is 

 formed, in the case of L. giganteum, from five to seven 

 inches in length, and ten to fifteen inches in diameter ; 

 hitherto the foliage has been broad and low growing ; 

 but when the bulb has attained the size mentioned, it 

 throws up in the spring a much thicker bud — by many 

 likened to a young cabbage — whence a stout stem arises, 

 sometimes six inches in diameter and from five to ten 

 feet high, studded with numerous flowers, resembling 

 somewhat the flowering spike of an Aloe, forming a 

 striking and beautiful object. In the meanwhile the 

 bulb, exhausted by the process, decays and disappears, 

 leaving from three to five small offsets, which, in due 

 course, increase in size, and, under favorable circum- 

 stances, repeat the performance. We should not have 



