As a pot plant, this lily rarely does well, for it is almost impossible to give it sufficient depth of earth in a pot.
The nearest ally to L. Monodelphum is the very rare L. Polyphyllum. This lily is extremely beautiful, but is so uncommon that but few of our readers are likely to have seen it. We have only once seen it ourselves, and have never been able to obtain a bulb.
The bulb of this species is totally different from any other. It is long and thin, being composed of numerous long lance-shaped scales. As far as we know, the bulb is always pure white.
In growth this lily resembles the last, but it rarely reaches a greater height than three feet.
The flowers are longer but more reflexed than are those of L. Monodelphum. They are of a beautiful creamy-white colour, curiously streaked with dark purple markings.
It was formerly grown under the name of Fritillaria Polyphylla, but that it is truly a lily is unquestionable. It is a native of the Himalayas, and we should think that its culture ought to be similar to that of L. Giganteum from the same region. It is said to be perfectly hardy.
The North American Continent has given us many species of lilies. Up to the present we have only described three: L. Washingtonianum, L. Parryi, and L. Philadelphicum. These three lilies are certainly very different from any that the Old Continent has given us. But we now meet with ten species, very nearly allied, and yet in no way resembling any others.
These are the swamp lilies, a sub-section of the Martagons, the ten members of which are all confined to North America. And they are a very characteristic group of lilies.
In most of these species the bulb is annual, being produced at the extremity of a thick perennial rhizome. Why all the American lilies (except three) should bear rhizomes and annual bulbs, while all the Old World species bear perennial bulbs without rhizomes we cannot say, but there must be some important reason to account for it.
There is only one American lily which bears a globose bulb in any way like the ordinary bulbs of the Eastern species. This lily is Lilium Columbianum, a perfect little gem in its way.