LIGU'STRUM. 



168 



li'lium. 



such as Primroses, Polyanthuses, the 

 rarer kinds of Ranunculaceae, Tril- 

 liums, Cypripediurns, Bog Orchideae, 

 and a great variety of others. The 

 Privet is preferable to all other plants 

 for garden-hedges on account of the 

 rapidity of its growth, and the nature 

 of its roots, which are chiefly fibrous, 

 and never extend to a great distanee 

 from the plant. The tree Box has 

 the same properties, but then it is of 

 much slower growth. The evergreen 

 Privet is also one of the best plants for 

 verdant architecture and sculpture ; 

 because it grows compact, is of a deep 

 green colour, bears the shears well, 

 and the leaves being small, they are 

 not disfigured by clipping, like those 

 of the Holly or the Laurel. The Box 

 equals it in the smallness of the 

 leaves, but it grows more slowly ; and 

 though the Juniper and Yew surpass 

 it, because their leaves never show 

 the mark of the shears, they grow 

 much slower still. It is much to be 

 regretted, that with there-introduction 

 of the French and Italian modes of 

 laying out flower-beds, the verdant 

 arcades, colonnades, and detached 

 figures of obelisks, pyramids, cones, 

 and figures of men and animals, are 

 not re-introduced also ; but as this 

 will probably soon be the case for the 

 sake of propriety and consistency of 

 character, the Privet will then be 

 found an invaluable shrub. It grows 

 in any soil and situation, even in 

 narrow courts amid coal-smoke, and 

 it is readily propagated by cuttings. 

 It also grows under the shade of trees, 

 and is therefore admirably adapted for 

 thickening and darkening narrow 

 shrubberies and screening of planta- 

 tions. As a single object, the Privet is 

 very ornamental,whether covered with 

 its white flowers or its dark-purple ber- 

 ries ; and there are varieties with 

 green, white, and yellow berries, and 

 variegated leaves. Ligustrum liici~ 

 dum, and L. spiedtum, are very or- 



namental sub-evergreen shrubs or low 

 trees, natives of China and Nepal ; 

 but they are liable to be injured by 

 very severe winters. These two spe- 

 cies are propagated by budding or 

 grafting on the common Privet. 



Lilac. — See Syringa. 



Li'lium. — Liliacece. or Tulipd- 

 cece. — The Lily is a splendid genus 

 of bulbous-rooted plants. All the 

 species are beautiful, and most of 

 them are hardy. Lilium candidum 

 grows from three feet to five feet 

 high, and its pure white flowers which 

 appear in June, are well-known from 

 being placed by painters in the hands 

 of the Virgin. L. bulbiferum, a 

 native of Italy, has orange flowers, 

 which appear in June and July, and 

 the plant is equally high with the 

 preceding species. L. philadelphieum 

 grows five feet or six feet high, and 

 produces its fine scarlet flowers in 

 August. L. Pompbnium is a splen- 

 did species, with scarlet flowers, pro- 

 duced in May and June, and L. t%- 

 grtnum grows six feet high,' and pro- 

 duces its black-spotted orange flowera 

 in August and September. There are 

 many other hardy species in cultiva- 

 tion ; and L.eximium, L.jap6nium> y 

 L. longijlbrum, and some others, 

 eminently beautiful, and chiefly with 

 white flowers, require the protection 

 of the greenhouse, or a cold frame. 

 The species which are natives of 

 America thrive best in sandy peat, 

 kept moist when the plants are in a 

 growing state; but the others grow 

 freely in common garden soil. They 

 are all readily propagated by offsets, 

 which they produce in abundance. 

 The bulbs of all the species are pro- 

 bably edible when cooked, for those 

 of L. Pompbnium are used in Kamt- 

 schatka in the same way as potatoes 

 are in Britain ; and they all belong 

 to what are called the scaly bulbs, 

 which may remain several years in the 

 ground without taking up, and which, 



