This Lily is considered as an emblem of purity and elegance; and

"The lady lily, looking gently down,"

is scarcely less a favourite with the poets than the rose itself.

Ben Jonson, to express the extreme loveliness of a beautiful woman, asks—

"Have you seen but a bright lily grow

Before rude hands have touched it?"

"The lily, of all children of the spring
The palest-fairest too where fair ones are."
BARRY CORNWALL'S FLOOD OF THESSALY.

"Thus passeth yere by yere, and day by day,
Till it felle ones in a morwe of May,
That Emelie, that fayrer was to seene
Than is the lilie upon his stalke greene,
And fresher than the May with floures newe,
For with the rose color strof hire hewe;
(I n' ot which was the finer of them two)
Er it was day, as she was wont to do,
She was arisen and all redy dight;

For May will have no slogardie a-night.”

CHAUCER.

"In virgin beauty blows

The tender lily languishingly sweet."

ARMSTRONG.

"Hevinlie lyllyis with lokkerand toppis quhyte,
Opynnit and schew thare istis redemyte.”

GAWIN DOUGLAS.

"Queen of the field, in milk-white mantle drest,
The lovely lily waved her curling crest."

MODERNIZED BY FAWKES.

It is said that these flowers were originally of a deep yellow colour, but that when Jupiter removed Hercules, whom by stealth he had placed at the breast of Juno, some of her milk falling upon them, rendered them white, at the same time as the Galaxy was formed.

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On this account it was, by the Romans, held sacred to Juno.

Garcilasso compares a dying youth to a Lily cut down by the plough :

-"he laid his pallid face
On the burnt soil, and sighed away, forlorn,
His soul of beauty, like the rose of morn
That, smit by the hot season, sickening grieves,
Hangs its gay head, and pales its crimson leaves,
Or as a lily which the passing share
Leaves cruelly cut down, whereby its fair
Transparent hue, though not all perished, now
That its maternal earth neglects to throw

Juice through its veins, fades soon as noon-tide tells
Her wonted rosary on its dewy bells."

WIFFEN'S GARCILASSO, p. 246.

Catesby's Lily was named in honour of Mr. Catesby, who first found it in South Carolina. It is one of the smallest of the lilies cultivated in this country; the whole plant, when in bloom, being little more than a foot high. The flower is variously shaded with red, orange, and lemon colours, and has no scent. It blows in July and August. This lily does not produce offsets very fast. It must be carefully sheltered from frost, and be kept moderately moist.

The Orange-Lily has a large and brilliant flower, of a glowing flame-colour, figured and dotted with black and fiery red. There are several varieties of this species: one of which, called the Bulb-bearing Fiery Lily, puts out bulbs from the axils of the stalks; which, when the stalks decay, being taken off, and planted, will produce new plants.

The Orange-Lily will thrive in any soil or situation, and is readily increased by offsets. The bulbs should be removed every second year, and planted again before

Christmas. It may stand abroad, and should be kept moderately moist.

Of the Martagon Lilies there are several species, and many varieties of each. These are not calculated for pots, but cannot be passed over without notice, since it is one of these Lilies called the Chalcedonian*, or Scarlet Martagon, which has been determined to be the poetical hyacinth. (See Hyacinth.) The Red and Yellow Martagons are commonly known by the name of Turk's-cap Lilies.

LILY OF THE VALLEY.

SMILACE.

CONVALLARIA.

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

These flowers are so named from growing in valleys.

Or the Lily of the Valley, called also Lily Convally, and May Lily, and, in some country villages, Ladder to Heaven;-in French, le muguet; lis des vallées; muguet de Mai: in the village dialect, gros mouguet: in Italian, il mughetto; giglio convallio [lily convally]; giglio delle convalli-there are three species: the Sweet-scented, the Grass-leaved, and the Spiked. The first is a native of Britain and many other parts of Europe. It flowers in May whence it has been named by some the May Lily. Gerarde calls it Convall Lily, and says that in some places it is called Liriconfancie. It is also called May-blossom.

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"The Lily of the Valley," says Mr. Martyn, " claims our notice both as an ornamental and a medicinal plant. As an ornamental one, few are held in higher estimation : indeed, few flowers can boast such delicacy, with so much fragrance. When dried they have a narcotic scent, and,

* The Chalcedonian Lily is called in French Lis de Saint Bruno (St. Bruno's lily); in Italian, riccio di dama, (lady's curls).

reduced to powder, excite sneezing. A beautiful and desirable green colour may be prepared from the leaves with lime." The distilled water is used in perfumery.

There are several varieties of this species: one with red flowers, one with double red, and one with double white blossoms. There is also a variety much larger than the common sort, and beautifully variegated with purple. It was brought from the Royal Garden at Paris, and flowered several years in the Chelsea Garden: but the roots do not increase so much as the other varieties.

The Lily of the Valley requires a loose sandy soil and a shady situation. It is increased by parting the roots in autumn, which should be done about once in three years. They may be gently watered every evening in dry summer weather. When the roots of this plant are confined in a pot it may also be increased by its red berry; but in the woods, where the roots are allowed to spread, it seldom produces the berry *.

The other species of the Lily of the Valley are natives of Japan.

Thunberg mentions one called the Convallaria Japonica ; of which, he says, the knobs at the root were preserved in sugar, and were highly commended by the Japanese and the Chinese as good in different disorder's +.

"No flower amid the garden fairer grows

Than the sweet lily of the lowly vale,

The queen of flowers."

-" And valley-lilies whiter still

Than Leda's love."

KEATS'S ENDYMION, p. 10.

"The lily, silver mistress of the vale."

CHURCHILL.

* See Rousseau's Letters on Botany.
+ Thunberg's Travels, vol. ii. p. 85.

Of the Solomon's-seal-called in French le sceau de Salomon; le signet de Salomon; l'herbe de la rupture [rupturewort]; le genouillet: Italian, il ginocchietto; sigillo di Salomone-there are seven species, and varieties of each: the Narrow-leaved, the Single-flowered, the Broad-leaved, the Many-flowered, the Cluster-flowered, the Star-flowered, and the Least Solomon's-seal, or One-blade.

"The root of the Single-flowered species," says Mr. Martyn, "is twisted and full of knots. On a transverse section of it, characters appear that give it the resemblance of a seal whence its name of Solomon's-seal." It is also

called White-root.

The roots of this and the Broad-leaved kind have, in times of scarcity, been made into bread; and the young shoots of the latter species are eaten by the Turks as we eat asparagus. All the species are elegant plants. They are hardy; and, in a light soil and a shady situation, increase very fast by the roots. The best time to transplant them, and to part the roots, is in autumn, soon after the stalks decay. They should not be removed oftener than every but should have fresh earth, as deep as third year; it can be changed without disturbing the roots, every spring. The earth should be kept moderately moist.

Gerarde gives a curious account of the virtues of these plants; not, however, of so much importance to the female sex, in the present day, as it might have been in his time:

"The roote of Solomon' Seale stamped, while it is freshe and greene, and applied, taketh away in one night, or two at the most, any bruse, black or blew spots gotten by fals or women's wilfulnesse, in stumbling upon their hasty husbands' fists, or such like."

There is something delightfully fresh and cool in the appearance of these Lilies; of which the flowers are so pleasantly shaded by their large light-green leaves, that one

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