20 
THE CULTIVATION OF HARDY LILIES IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
Martagon, (Fig. 2,) said to be distinguished 
by the hanging of the flowers, whose petals 
turn back, and show their inner surface only; 
of this there are also many varieties ; but there 
are also many Lilies which have this character 
about them, which, nevertheless, do not belong 
to the Martagon Lily. 
Fig. 1 
Another great character among Lilies is 
that of Longiflora, {Fig. 3,) grown with so 
much success at the Clapton nursery. The 
flowers of these are very long, and horn-shaped, 
the mouth being very open, trumpet-fashion, 
and petals rather reflexed, but not much. 
The Tiger Lily (Fig. 4,) is of a family 
whose characteristic comes near the Martagon, 
so called ; for the petals reflex, and it is richly 
spotted ; but the petals do not so completely 
curl up or roll up as some of the other varieties 
do. It is, however, -worth notice, if it be only 
to show how nearly some of the kinds ap- 
proximate, without being the same. 
Lilium superbum (Fig. 5,) is one of the 
Martagon or Turk's-cap form, but the flowers 
are larger, and the petals much longer than 
others of the family. To us it is less inviting, 
because there is less distinctness in the colours; 
there is more of a green cast in the bloom, as if 
it were not in full perfection. The plant runs 
taller than any, generally not less than five or 
six feet, and it is said that it will rise to nine 
or ten in congenial soil and situation. It has 
also been described as capable of bearing forty 
flowers on its spike, which we doubt, though 
much may be done by culture — in this country 
it rarely exceeds from ten to fifteen. 
The last we shall describe is where the 
flower is wider and petals reflex more- — a 
bolder and richer looking variety than Longi- 
flora. It is called Eximia, (Fig. 6,) and the 
character is distinct, through the petals reflex- 
ing more and hanging down. The dwarf 
character of these latter varieties or species 
is greatly in their favour, and they are at this 
moment in great esteem. 
There arc other forms of flowers, but their 
differences are not great from one or other of 
those we have described, and every year adds to 
the novelties introduced, although many are 
not materially different in form to one or other 
of those mentioned in our list. 
Some of these Lilies have variegated foliage, 
but they are not esteemed for their flowers, 
and, indeed, only as curiosities at all. The 
best of the variegated is that of the original 
white, whose foliage being thick, and hand- 
some, always forms a pretty object in the 
borders, even before the bloom appears. 
The treatment of all these is simple: they 
require a good soil of sandy loam and decom- 
posed dung, through which the water will run 
freely, and the border should be well drained. 
Some pains might be taken with advantage to 
grow a collection of these noble exotics, for 
although they will grow almost any where, 
they will appear like another race when grown, 
as they should be grown, in a well-drained 
border of light rich porous earth. There are 
many flowers called lilies, which, however, are 
not of this family : the lily of the valley, the 
sheath lily, the day lily, and various others, 
which are different genera. Some of the 
kinds we have mentioned have buds exactly 
like small bulbs at the axils of their leaves; 
these fall to the ground, and grow into bulbs 
similar to the parent in all respects: so that 
nature has provided no less than three dif- 
ferent modes of propagation — first, by offsets 
from the bulbous roots ; secondly, by those 
bulbous buds which come at the axils of their 
leaves ; and thirdly, from seed. The two 
former modes perpetuate the original kind in 
all particulars, the third not so strictly con- 
fined to the parent kind, but liable to 
Fig. 2. 
variations, though tolerably constant in gene- 
ral, unless fertilized artificially by the pollen 
from a different variety. To prepare a bed 
