12 _ BULLETIN 1459, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
is probably true with the liles. For the present, however, this 
point may not be very important, for seed production to the 
limit will be necessary for some years ii stocks are to be developed 
to supply the market. When this has been accomplished there is 
little doubt that removal of the flowers from stocks intended for 
market the following autumn will be practiced generally by the 
best growers. In the work done by the department thus far, few 
flowers have been removed, because a maximum crop of seed was 
desired. This must be taken into account in any estimate of produc- 
tion based on the experiments detailed here. 
The yield of seed in this lily is phenomenal under favorable condi- 
tions. The plants commonly produce five well-filled pods contain- 
ing anywhere from 300 to 600 or more fertile, viable seeds. In the 
season of 1925 two beds occupying a space 3 by 130 feet each, as 
shown in Plate 2, A, yielded about 6 pounds of heavy cleaned seed. 
These beds, including the two 18-inch paths, measure about one- 
thirty-sixth of an acre. An average run of viable, well-filled seed 
will contain approximately 65,000 to the pound, a much smaller 
number than a pound of seed of Liliwm longiflorum, which has 
about 102,000. ‘The Regal lly is one of the heavier seeded species. 
THE HABIT OF THE REGAL LILY 
Under glass the Regal lily stands in the pots 24 to 36 inches over 
all and is much more uniform than Formosum but less so than 
Giganteum.® The leaves are narrow and delicate and the stems com- 
monly, but not always, rather weak for a heavy truss of flowers. 
Staking is very often necessary unless the plant is grown with ideal 
lighting. | 
POnder field conditions in the Virginia location the plants stand 
about 30 inches high and very uniform all over the beds. (PI. 2, B, 
and pl. 3, A.) At Bellingham, Wash., however, on Whatcom silt 
loam with little or no mulch and under open field conditions, the 
lily has seldom been over 2 feet high and the stems not so strong 
as in the Virginia region. 
It is a peculiar thing that the plants most likely to need staking 
are those with few flowers. The largest trusses usually have a pro- 
portionately larger stem to support them, and commonly the flowers 
are better balanced. 
In the ornamental border the habit of the lily is very different. 
It is commonly 4 or 5 feet high and 6 feet is not at all unusual. 
Under such conditions, unless it is supported at the base by sur- 
rounding vegetation, staking is necessary, especially if winds are 
severe. However, the stems are very wiry, and although bending 
over considerably, it is seldom that they fall prostrate. (Pl. 3, B.) 
LONGEVITY 
The Regal lily is long lived. How long it endures the writer does 
not know, but he is of the opinion that it is indefinite in lease of life 
of the individual plants. The first bulb grown by the writer was 
probably 3 years old and was procured in 1917. It was planted in a 
®* These are varieties of Lilium longiflorum. 
