50 POPULAR GARDEN BOTANY. 



ticular attention it requires is to keep it constantly supplied 

 with water, of which it imbibes a great quantity ; indeed it 

 will grow altogether in water, if such a situation can be 

 procured for it. It is not generally known that this plant 

 will bear being planted out in summer, provided it be well 

 supplied with water; in winter it must either be taken into 

 the greenhouse or frame, or its root be kept dry with ashes 

 heaped over it ; if planted in water, its roots will be suffi- 

 ciently protected from cold by the water itself : it is in- 

 creased by offshoots from the roots in September, which 

 should be planted in sandy loam and leaf-mould ; the young 

 plants must be kept in the greenhouse till they are stout, as 

 they do not bear the cold well. This genus is sometimes 

 included in the Order Orontiacece. 



LILIACEJE. 



Endogens, with a naked flower, flat when withering. Calyx 

 and corolla coloured alike, regular or nearly so, occasionally ad- 

 hering in a tube. Stamens six. — Herbaceous plants, with narrow, 

 parallel-veined leaves, and bulbous, tuberous, or fibrous roots; 

 natives principally of temperate climates ; the roots of some are 

 edible ; the fibres useful for making cordage. 



