Chapter II: Lilies That Flourish in Sandy Loam, Peat, and Leaf-Soil

_Auratum_, a well-known Lily, 2 to 6 feet high, with ivory-white flowers, often 9 to 12 inches across, with a conspicuous yellow band down the centre, and deep purple blotches all over the inner surface. There are several varieties, some poor, some excellent, amongst the latter being _platyphyllum_ with very large heavily-spotted flowers. There is a white unspotted form of this called _virginale_, closely related to which is _Wittei_, the flowers of which, however, are stained with yellow down the centre.

_Browni_, 2 to 4 feet high, with bell-shaped flowers, pure white with a central purple line.

_Concolor_, grows 1 to 3 feet high, and has bright scarlet flowers. There are several varieties, such as _Buschianum_ and the dwarf _pulchellum_, scarlet, spotted with black; _Coridion_, bright yellow, spotted with red; _Partheneion_, orange-yellow, faintly spotted; and _luteum_, yellow, spotted with purple-red.

_Elegans_ (or _Thunbergianum_), 1 to 2 feet high, with erect cup-shaped scarlet flowers, slightly spotted with purple at the base.

_Giganteum_, a gigantic Himalayan Lily, with stems from 6 to 10, and sometimes 14 feet high, furnished with large heart-shaped oval leaves. The flower stem is 1 to 2 feet long and has drooping funnel-shaped blossoms of a greenish-white, suffused with violet-purple in the throat. Unlike other Liliums, the large conical bulbs of this species are not buried deeply in the soil. They are sunk in the soil about one-third of their depth, and are usually planted in April or May. In the event of spring frosts, the bulbs should be protected with dry leaves or litter.

_Hansoni_, 3 to 4 feet high, flowers drooping, bright orange yellow, and heavily spotted with dark purple-brown (see Plate 25, fig. 93).

_Humboldti_ (or _Bloomerianum_), 4 to 8 feet high, flowers orange-yellow, drooping, spotted with purple at the base; more conspicuous in the variety _ocellatum_, the yellow blossoms of which are tipped with crimson or purple.

_Japonicum_, 1 to 3 feet high, with sweet-scented pure white flowers faintly tinged with purple outside.

_Kewense_, a beautiful hybrid between _Henryi_ and a variety of _Browni_; it grows about 6 feet high, and has buff-coloured flowers about 8 inches across, fading off to creamy white at the tips.

_Krameri_ is like _japonicum_, but taller, and with pink flowers.

_Leichtlini_, 3 to 4 feet high, with drooping citron-yellow flowers heavily spotted with purple.

_Longiflorum_, a very handsome Lily, 2 to 3 feet high, with large tubular pure white flowers. There are many so-called varieties of this species, including _Harrisi_, _eximium_, and _Takesima_--all very popular for forcing in pots for greenhouses (see Plate 25, fig. 94).

_Martagon_, the "Turk's Cap," Lily, 2 to 3 feet high, with many tiers of drooping purple-red or violet-rose flowers, spotted with carmine, but white in the tall growing variety _album_ (see Plate 26, fig. 95).

_Monadelphum_ (or _Loddigesianum_) is a vigorous Lily, 3 to 5 feet high, with soft bright yellow flowers, which in the variety _Szovitsianum_ (or _colchicum_) are spotted with blackish-purple (see Plate 26, fig. 98).

_Pardalinum_, known as the "Leopard Lily," grows 3 to 8 feet high, and has drooping orange-red flowers spotted with dark purple at the base. There are several varieties, some being more highly coloured and spotted than others.

_Roezli_, 2 to 3 feet high, with dark blotched orange-red flowers.

_Speciosum_, also well-known as _lancifolium_, grows 2 to 3 feet high, and has white flowers suffused with rose, the lower portion of the segments being deeper in colour, and covered with papillae. There are many varieties such as _album_, white; _Kraetzeri_, white tinged with green down the centre; _Melpomene_, deep crimson-purple, &c.

_Tenuifolium_, so called from its grass-like leaves, grows 1 to 2 feet high, and has small drooping scarlet blossoms (see Plate 25, fig. 92).

_Tigrinum_, the "Tiger Lily," with woolly stems 2 to 4 feet high, and deep orange-red flowers heavily spotted with blackish-purple. (See Plate 24, fig. 90.)