448 On the Culture of the Guernsey Lily. 



quently a slight frost at the commencement of the winter, 

 injures them so much that few of them shew their blossoms 

 in the succeeding autumn ; and at all times, under the most 

 favourable circumstances, not above one-fourth of the bulbs 

 flower in the same season. 



These observations sufficiently prove, that the Amaryllis 

 Sarniensis cannot be a native of Guernsey; for I consider 

 that every plant in its native clime, is produced in the great- 

 est perfection, and requires no covering whatever. Tra- 

 dition informs us, that some roots of it were accidentally 

 thrown upon the shores of that island, from a vessel which 

 was wrecked ; that they grew and flourished upon the sands, 

 and have continued the pride and ornament of the island. 

 Both Thunberg and Kjempfer assert that it grows wild 

 in the island of Japan ; but they also assure us, that the 

 winters in Japan are frequently excessively severe, especi- 

 ally during the prevalence of north or north-easterly winds. 

 This bulb, therefore, unless it obtains sufficient strength to 

 resist them by the peculiar climate of Japan, is as liable to 

 perish by the frosts there, as by the severity of the winter in 

 England or Guernsey ; I therefore think it extremely pro- 

 bable, that it is not a native of Japan, but that in the inter- 

 change of productions, the Japanese procured it either from 

 Cochin China, or from some of the islands of the eastern 

 Archipelago. 



It is, however, of little real consequence to us, to know 

 of what place it is a native ; its tenderness is sufficiently ac- 

 knowledged, it must consequently be the production of a war- 

 mer climate than our own, and we can have little expecta- 

 tion of successfully cultivating it, without protection in winter. 



