IJ'LIUM MAR'TAGON. 
PURPLE MARTAGON. 
Class. Order. 
HBXANDRIA. MONOGVNIA. 
Natural Order. 
TDLIPACE*. 
Native of | 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
Germany. ] 
4 feet. 
June, July. 
Perennial. 
in 1596. 
No. 332. 
The word Lilium, is derived from the Greek lei- 
RION, as noticed under 292. Or, agreeably to some 
authorities, from the Celtic Li, signifying whiteness. 
The Purple Martagon has been known to almost 
every one who has lived within the last three centu- 
ries, possessed of the blessing of a few yards of his 
native country, to call a garden. 
The most striking beauty, when frequently pre- 
sented to the eye, loses its power of engaging our at- 
tention. Were this not the fact, the peculiar ele- 
gance of the Martagon would continue an object of 
admiration to every individual of cultivated mind. 
Its stately upriglit pillar, decked above, like an east- 
ern pagoda ; and ornamented below, by whorls of uni- 
form foliage, render it a profitable subject of contem- 
plation for the artist, whose taste should be founded on 
beauty. This quality is never sought for in vain a- 
mongst the products of nature. 
The Purple Martagon flourishes in any common 
garden ground. The only subject to which the cul- 
tivator’s attention requires to be directed, is that of 
never disturbing the bulbs of any species of lily 
whilst in a state of active vegetation. 
Hort. Kew. 2, v. 2, 242. 
