LILIACEiE. 



55 



neral character they greatly resemble a small Palm, the nu- 

 merous leaves all proceeding from the top of the stem, as do 

 those of the Palm tribe, and the flower rising above them ; 

 the latter has a beautiful effect, being a handsome spike of 

 greenish- white blossoms ; the leaves of most of the species 

 have their edges clothed with strong brown or white twisted 

 threads, which give them a peculiar appearance. Y. gloriosa, 

 aloifolia, filameniosa, an gust] folia, and sujoerba will grow in 

 this country in the open air, but are better in the conserva- 

 tory. An enthusiastic cultivator of these beautiful plants 

 gives the following glowing account of his favourites, which 

 is extracted from the Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, 

 to whom the account was given ; it will not be out of place 

 in these pages : — " I had kept these plants of the Yucca 

 filamentosa six or seven years, though they had never 

 bloomed ; I knew nothing of them, and had no notion of 

 what feelings they would excite. Last June, I found in bud 

 the one which had the most favourable exposure. A week or 

 two after, another, which w T as more in the shade, put out 

 flower-buds, and I thought I should be able to watch them 

 one after the other ; but no ! the one which was most fa- 

 voured waited for the other, and both flowered together at 

 the full of the moon. This struck me as singular, but as 



