Everyone knows the blossom of the tiger-lily. The pyramidal shape of the inflorescence, with its nodding bell-like blossoms, irresistibly suggests a Chinese pagoda, and when looking at the plant one can almost feel that it hails from China.
The segments of the blossoms of the tiger-lily are much re-curved, their tips touching their points of origin. The colour of this lily, reddish orange, is very different from that of any that we have already described, but as we shall see later, it is a very common colour among the lilies. In the type of the tiger-lily the colour is a very fine orange, and the spots, which are very numerous, are deep purple.
The tiger-lily often bears seed in this country if the bulblets are removed. As, however, seed is the least satisfactory mode of propagating lilies, it is far better to utilise the bulblets for this purpose.
Individually, the tiger-lily is a fine plant, but its full effect is only to be obtained by growing it in great clumps. A bed of tiger-lilies is a grand sight, and it blossoms in September and October, a time when showy plants are not very numerous.
There are several varieties of the tiger-lily. That which is most commonly grown is called splendens, because it is very floriferous, and the flowers are of large size, fine colour, and are thickly spotted.
Another variety, called Fortunei, is also very fine. It grows to the height of six feet, and the stem and buds are covered with white silky down. The flowers are very numerous, often exceeding thirty in number. They are large, less reflexed than in the type, and only sparingly spotted with large spots.
The tiger is the second lily we have met with of which there is a double-flowered variety. There are only four double lilies, and none of them possesses the elegance of the single form. The old double tiger-lily is very full and is interesting, though far inferior in beauty to the type.
There is little to be said about the cultivation of the tiger-lily. It is perfectly hardy and will grow anywhere. It prefers a rich soil, and in poor or damp spots it often degenerates.
There is a lily which resembles the tiger-lily so closely that very few people could distinguish between them unless they were placed side by side. And yet most writers on the subject have separated this lily from the tiger-lily and placed it among the Martagon group, a group of lilies differing extremely from the one which we are now considering.