A RARE GREENHOUSE LILY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 22, 29 May 1912, Page 38

A RARE GREENHOUSE LILY.

(Lilium Roseum.) This rare Himalayan Lily is one of the most interesting plants of the genus. Lilium roseum and L. Hookeri (an allied species) in structure come midway between the genus Fritillaria and that of the Lilium; in fact, some l>otanists class both plants as Fritillaris under the names of F. Hookeri and F. maerophylla (roseum). L. roseum was first collected by Thomson and Strachey, the last-named sending home seeds, which first flowered at Kew in 1853. The tallest spike on the plant illustrated is about one and a-half feet high, carrying twenty-four flowers. The leaves, closely’ arranged at the base of the stem, are Ift to lAft long, and

less than an inch in width. Higher up the stem the leaves are shorter and further apart, gradually merging into bracts near the Howers. The bell-shaped blossoms are a pleasing pale mauve tint, lin to l|in in length, and lin broad at the mouth. This Lily cannot be regarded as perfectly hardy, for. when grown outside, the protection of a warm south wall or sheltered nook in the rockery’ is necessary. A well-drained, light, sandy’ soil is the most suitable. It can be grown very successfully in a cold greenhouse or alpine house. The plant illustrated is growing in a pot. In Continental catalogues the subject of this note is more often listed as Lilium or Fritillaria Thomsonianum, the name which is given in the ‘’Botanical Magazine,” t. 4725. No mention of this Lily is made in the two popular books on Lilies, “The Book of the Lily,” by W. Goldring, or •’Lilies,” by A. Grove, one of the series of “Pre-sent-Day’ Gardening.”—“A.O.,” in “The Garden.”