September 23,1882.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 293 
York and Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Texas. It flowers in 
April and May, and was introduced in 1824. 
E. americanum, Smith.—Bulbs very small, brownish. Leaves 
oblong or oblong-lanceolate, mottled and dotted. Flowers soli¬ 
tary, light yellow, 1 to H inch long, frequently spotted with 
purple at the base ; segments slightly toothed at the base. 
Linnmus regards it as a variety of E. Dens-canis. It has also re¬ 
ceived the following names :—E. carolinianum, Walt., E. lanceo- 
latum, Pursh (this was the accepted name for a long time), E. 
angustatum, Bab , E. bracteatum, Booth , and E. Nuttallianum, 
Schult. Thus it has a great variety of names, which are ex¬ 
tremely misleading. It flowers with us in April and May, and 
has been known under cultivation ever since 1665. It enjoys 
peaty soil ; in fact it does not thrive so well without as with 
peat. It is found from Canada to Florida and Arkansas. 
E. Dens-canis, Linn.—Bulbs much larger than the last two 
species. Leaves ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or oblong, copiously 
mottled. Flowers solitary, 1 to 1^ inch long and nearly as wide, 
usually of a pinkish-purple colour, but there is a great variation 
of colour—white, yellow, and several shades of red. The white 
variety, which is named albidum, is very pretty, as also is the 
yellow-flowered kind. They are all of extremely easy culture, 
flowering outside early in April, being perfectly hardy. They 
are natives of Hungary, Italy, &c., and have been introduced ever 
since 1596, and it was well known to Parkinson, who describes it 
as “The Dog’s-tooth with a pale purple flower.” The typical 
form is well figured in “ Curtis’s Bot. Mag.,” pi. 5. 
E. grandiflorum, Pursh.—A very variable plant, with bulbs 
frequently 2 inches long but narrow. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 
not mottled. Flowers solitary, or usually in racemes with from 
two to six flowers of a primrose yellow or cream colour, the base 
more or less tinged with orange, 1J to 2 inches long. Mr. Sereno 
Watson has enumerated some varieties, all of which, however, 
he admits may be specific forms. Yar. albiflorum (syn. E. gigan- 
teum, Lincll.; E. grandiflorum, Van Iioutte ) has large white 
flowers, orange at the base and mottled leaves. Yar. minor has 
flowers about an inch long, bright yellow. Var. Smithii, Hooli. 
(syn. E. revolutum, Smith ) has large flowers tinged with purple 
or rose colour. Some if not all of these varieties are not found 
under cultivation in this country, or as far as my knowledge 
extends : I should be happy to learn that they were. The typical 
form is not very scarce, having been introduced since 1826. It 
flowers outside in April and May. It is found in Oregon, Cali¬ 
fornia, and Washington Territories. 
E. Hartwegi, Watson.—Bulbs small. Leaves small, usually 
separated, ovate-lanceolate, mottled. Flowers usually two to 
three, very rarely solitary, in a sessile umbel 1 to 2 inches long, 
bright yellow, orange at the base, with spreading or slightly 
recurved segments to the perianth. It is Bentham’s E. grandi- 
fiorum {PI. Ilartw., 339). It is an extremely curious and rare 
species, occurring on the Sierra Nevada from Placer to Plumas 
counties, but not, I think, known in cultivation. 
E. propullans, Gray. — Bulbs small. Leaves ovate, oblong 
acuminate, not mottled. Flowers solitary, about half an inch 
long, bright rose, yellowish at the base. A very scarce Minnesota 
plant, not existing in this country but cultivated in America, but 
of rare occurrence under cultivation, although a very pretty 
species. 
E. purpurascens, Watson.—Bulb 1 to 2 inches long. Leaves 
large, more or less oblong, frequently undulated. Flowers 
usually from four to eight in a sub-umbella’te raceme from 1 to 
14 inch long, light yellow tinged with purple, deep orange at the 
base. It has received several other names, and I enumerate all 
those that are reliable. E. grandiflorum var. multiflorum, Tour.; 
E. g. var. multiscapidea, Wood ; Fritillaria multiscapidea, Kellog. 
Mr. Watson regards Baker’s E. revolutum as only a slender one- 
flowered variety of this plant. It is of comparatively recent 
introduction, flowering outside in May. Native of the Sierra 
Nevada, found in the same localities as the last species. It is 
a very beautiful species, and by no means common.—N. 
Lilitjm Catesbaji. —This charming little Lily is now in bloom in 
Messrs. James Dickson & Son’s nurseries at Chester, although it has 
been with some difficulty induced to do so, as it is evidently not an 
easy species to establish. Its flowering is of very rare occurrence in 
this country. The flowers are about 3 inches across, solitary, on a 
slender stem about a foot high. The divisions of the perianth are 
sharply reflexed about two-thirds from the apex, bright scarlet, the 
lower part yellow with a few blotches. It is certainly very distinct 
and curious. A good figure of it occurs in the “ Bot. Mag.,” pi. 259, 
and Mr. Curtis says “ he received bulbs of it at the close of the year 
1787, sent by Mr. Itobert Squibb from South Carolina, and many of 
which flowered with various persons in this country.” It seems to 
delight in good drainage and a compost of leaf soil, peat, loam, and 
sand.—C estrian. 
SILKWORMS AND SILKWORM REARING.—1G. 
(Continued from page 254.) 
The moth of the species Attacus Yama Mai, referred to and 
figured in our preceding article, is unlike some of its brethren in 
the silkworm group, which, as moths, are notably slow in their 
movements. Although neither the male nor the female of Yama 
Mai care for long flights on the wing, it is found that they in 
captivity perform, after emergence from the pupa, a succession of 
skips and jumps. The result of these “ gymnastic feats ” is by no 
means beneficial to their appearance. It is true, however, as 
Dr. Wallace observes, that their conduct when imprisoned may be, 
to some extent, different from their usual habits if at liberty, and 
Pig. 46.—Cocoon of Attacus Yama Mai. 
one of the experimenters has reported that his specimens throve 
best in a cage which was both roomy and damp. Ere they force 
their way from the cocoon a liquid is discharged upon its fibres, 
which softens and loosens them. This by examination has been 
proved to be alkaline, not of an acid nature as in other species. 
The cocoon of Attacus Yama Mai (fig. 46) is several times 
heavier than that of B. Mori, and the worm by preference 
encloses it in an Oak leaf ; greenish in its exterior, the silk of the 
inner portion of the cocoon is paler or nearly white. In this the 
insect only remains a few weeks. The long period of quiescence 
during its life is passed in the egg state, which lasts from the 
autumn until the spring. This allows of the eggs being trans¬ 
mitted across the globe when necessary ; it is only needful to 
keep them moderately cool, yet not too dry. The application of 
a magnifier has revealed the curious fact that the young worm 
or caterpillar hatches a few weeks after the egg is laid, but lies 
dormant in the shell until the end of April or May with us, emerg¬ 
ing about the time the Oak is bursting into leaf. And although 
the species has been reared upon several plants beside the Oak, 
notably upon Apple and Beech, it seems to give preference to the 
Oak both in Europe and in its native land, Japan. Dr. Wallace 
rather thinks the Turkey Oak (Q. Cerris) is its special favourite, 
but the worms feed freely upon any species of Quercus. In repose 
Fig. 47.—Caterpillar of Attacus Yama Mai. 
this silkworm is fond of assuming the sphinx attitude (fig. 47), or 
with the head even more elevated than shown in the illustration. 
Before it begins to eat, the newly hatched worm shows a dis¬ 
position to drink generally. The fact has been stated by a number 
of observers. Having sipped the morning dew and roved about a 
little, it may then be induced to begin upon the young leaves. 
Within an hour or two after quitting the egg it has so increased 
