2S4 
T H E G A R D E N M A G A Z I N E 
July, 1915 
and sublime Mount Fuji. To-day it still 
grows there but in decreasing numbers; yet 
it is even now the most common wild Lily in 
Japan. In the volcanic deposits throughout 
the province of Idzu it is abundant and 
near by on the small island of Oshima, 
whose central part is an ever active vol- 
cano, grows in quantity the broad-leaved 
auratum (L. auratum var. platyphyllum). 
Now for western markets dealers de- 
mand Lily-bulbs of certain sizes. After a 
few years the Japanese discovered that the 
supply of wild bulbs meeting the necessary 
requirements was virtually exhausted, but 
they quickly found that in rich, moist farm 
land, in one or at most two years, they could 
grow the small bulbs culled from the mount- 
ain slopes and moorlands into large saleable 
bulbs and, incidentally, that the larger the 
bulb the higher its market value. Then 
began in Japan the growing of Lily-bulbs for 
the western markets and here commenced 
the troubles of would-be cultivators in the 
Occident of Lilium auratum. In books on 
Lilies one reads “ Lilium auratum grows in 
porous, open soil largely composed of 
volcanic detritus overlaid by a deep carpet 
of woodland soil.” The first part of this 
statement is true but the “deep carpet of 
woodland soil” is pure fiction. 
In Japan there is much poor and hungry 
soil but none more so than the slopes of 
august Fuji and the volcanic deposits of the 
Idzu province. Around Matsushima, a 
beauty spot in northern Japan, I saw this 
Lily wild in quantity growing among coarse 
grass and shrubs on low hills and hillocks of 
pure, gray sandstone. In western Japan, in 
the province of Uzen I also met with it 
growing wild on gravelly banks and 
hillsides among 
small shrubs and 
coarse grasses. It 
is the open, porous 
soil and not the 
rich humus that 
this Lily luxuriates 
in. Leaf soil it loves 
in common with all 
Lilies, but it wants 
no unaerated acid 
peat and it loathes 
raw nitrogenous 
manures. True, 
bulbs transferred 
from their natural 
haunts to fields 
and cultivated like 
potatoes increase 
rapidly in size but 
the constitution 
of the plant 
is undermined 
and it becomes a 
prey to fungoid 
diseases. 
There is a min- 
imum size to every 
kind of Lily bulb 
below which it 
cannot produce 
strong, flowering 
stems. This size 
A stem-rooting Lily, which 
illustrates the wisdom of 
deeply planting the bulb 
varies according to the particular species but 
in every case a firm, solid bulb of moderate 
size will be found more healthy and will give 
results more satisfactory than a large, loose, 
and flabby bulb. Purchasers who make 
mere size their standard of value often 
defeat the object they have most closely in 
view. I examined some bulbs of those wild 
L. auratum aforementioned and found them 
only about a couple of inches in diameter 
though they bore heads of three to six 
flowers and, also, were absolutely free of any 
sign of disease. Later, I asked one of the 
largest and perhaps the best informed 
Japanese grower of Lilies why he did not 
dig and sell these wild bulbs since they 
were so healthy and vigorous. With a 
smile he answered “My dear sir, I tried it 
once and found that neither in Europe nor 
America could a purchaser be found for 
bulbs so small!” 
Of the genus Lilium, to which all true Lil- 
ies belong, about eighty species are known. 
All are confined to the waste places of the 
northern Hemisphere and more than half 
of them are indigenous to China and Japan. 
The genus ranges through the temperate 
and subtropic regions from eastern North 
America to California and through eastern 
Asia, the Himalayas and Siberia to the 
extreme limits of western Europe. It is 
absent from the plains of the middle-west 
of North America and from central Asia, 
and there are other considerable gaps in the 
field of distribution. Two species are 
found within and confined to the tropics, 
viz., L. philippinense in the Philippine 
Islands, and L. neilgherrense on the Neil- 
gherry Hills in southern India. In this 
wide domain species of Lilium are found 
under diverse conditions and a moment’s 
reflection should convince us of the futility 
of attempting to cultivate in any one garden 
all the species obtainable. 
Botanists, chiefly on the shape of the 
flowers, divide Lilies into five groups, viz. — 
I. Flowers strongly recurved and sug- 
gestive of a Turk’s cap, a familiar example 
being the Tiger Lily (L. tigrinum). 
II. Flowers large and funnel-shaped as in 
the common Easter Lily (L. longiflorum) . 
III. Flowers like a saucer or shallow 
basin as in the Golden-rayed Lily of Japan 
(L. auratum ). 
IV. Flowers erect as in the Umbellate 
Lily ( L . umbellatum) . 
V. Leaves broad and heart-shaped as in 
the Giant Lily ( L . giganteum). 
For horticultural purposes a much more 
simple classification may be invoked. For 
gardens in cool temperate regions Lilies 
may be divided into two broad groups: 
I. Hardy Lilies of which L. tigrinum, 
L. regale and L. Henryi serve as examples. 
II. Not Hardy, of which may be cited L. 
longiflorum, L. sulphureum and L. nepalense. 
Again, they may be divided into Swamp 
Lilies which would include nearly all the 
American species, and Dry-land Lilies 
which would include most of the species 
of China and Japan. With almost equal 
propriety these groups might be styled 
humus-loving and loam-loving respectively. 
Also, we might divide Lilies into shade- 
loving kinds as for example, L. giganteum, 
and sun-loving such as L. regale. But, not 
to waste time needlessly, it may be laid, 
down as a law that in the average garden 
situated in the temperate parts of North 
America, only such species of Lily that are 
perfectly hardy, will withstand sun and call 
for moderately dry land have any chance of 
becoming successful denizens. For such 
gardens swamp Lilies, woodland Lilies, and 
alpine Lilies, with a few exceptions, may be 
ruled out entirely. 
Most species of Lilies detest lime; to many 
it is a deadly poison; to none, insofar as we 
know, is lime essential; but some, like L. can- 
didum, L. martagon and L. testaceum are ap- 
parently indifferent to its presence in the soil. 
All Lilies demand good drainage. When 
one thinks of swamp Lilies this statement 
may sound unscientific. But dig up a few 
of these Lilies and note carefully the exact 
conditions under which they grow. It will 
be found that the bulb rests on a stone or a 
piece of rock, or in a tuft of firm sod, or 
nestles in gritty sand. The roots are in wet 
mud or may even hang free in the water but 
the bulb is so placed that water cannot 
stagnate immediately under and around it 
and in winter it is fairly dry. 
A few swamp Lilies like the native L. 
superbum and the Panther Lily of Cali- 
fornia ( L . pardalinum) may be grown with- 
out difficulty among Rhododendrons; but 
for those requiring more moisture, if their 
culture be attempted, it is a good plan to 
invert a flower-pot at the requisite depth, 
place the bulb on the upturned base and 
surround it with silver or gritty river-sand. 
Sun-loving Lilies, although the upper part 
of their stems are 
fully exposed and 
their blossoms 
flaunt in the sun, 
really require a 
certain amount of 
protection from the 
direct rays in the 
early stages of their 
growth. Lilies are 
not desert plants 
and the most sun- 
loving among them 
are never found in 
areas where no 
other plant grows. 
True, some of them 
are denizens of 
semi-arid regions 
but they are ever 
associated with 
grasses or twiggy 
shrubs, among and 
through which 
their young shoots 
are upthrust and 
which break the 
sun’s direct rays. 
Some species like 
The Regal Lily, 
L. regale (better 
known under the 
erroneous name of 
Mrs. Thayer’s Lily one of 
the newest introductions, well 
adapted to our gardens 
