WILD ORANGE LILY.
_Lilium Philadelphicum._
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
THE word Lily is derived from the Celtic, _li_, which signifies
whiteness; also from the Greek, _lirion_. Probably the stately Lily of
the garden, _Lilium candidum_, was the flower to which the name was
first given, from its ivory whiteness and the exquisite polish of its
petals. However that may be, the name LILY is ever associated in our
minds with grace and purity, and reminds us of the Saviour of men, who
spake of the lilies of the field, how they grew and nourished beneath
the care of Him who clothed them in robes of beauty more gorgeous than
the kingly garments of Royal Solomon.
Sir James Smith, one of the most celebrated of English botanists,
suggests that the lilies alluded to by our Lord may have been _Amarylis
latea_, or the Golden Lily of Palestine—the bright yellow blossoms of a
plant which abounds in the fields of Judea, and at that moment probably
caught his eye; their glowing colour aptly illustrating the subject on
which he was about to speak.
The Lily has a wide geographical range, and may be found in some form in
every clime.
There are Lilies that bloom within the cold influence of the frigid
zone, as well as the more brilliant species that glow beneath the
blazing suns of the equator in Africa and Southern Asia.
Dr. Richardson mentions, in his list of Arctic plants, _Lilium
Philadelphicum_, our own gorgeous orange (or rather scarlet-spotted
Lily). He remarks that it is called by the Esquimaux “MOUSE-ROOT,” from
the fact that it is much sought after by the field mice, which feed upon
the root. The porcupine also digs for it in the sandy soil in which it
delights to grow.
In Kamtschatka the _Lilium pomponium_ is used by the natives as an
article of food; and in Muscovy the white Narcissus is roasted as a
substitute for bread.
The healing qualities of the large white Lily roots and leaves are well
known, applied in the form of a poultice to sores and boils. Thus are
beauty and usefulness united in this most attractive plant.
The subject of our artist’s pencil, the ORANGE LILY, is widely spread
over this portion of the American continent, as well as in the more
sunny Western States of North America.
We find it, however, more frequently growing on open plain-lands, where
the soil is sandy loam. In partially shaded grassy thickets in
oak-openings, in the months of June and July, it may be seen mixed with
the azure blue Lupine (_Lupinus perennis_), the golden flowered Moccasin
(_Cypripedium pubescens_), _Pyrola rotundifolia_ the large sweet-scented
Wintergreen, and other charming summer flowers. Among these our gay and
gorgeous Lily stands conspicuous.
The stem is from 1½ to 2 feet high. The leaves are narrow-pointed; of a
dark green colour, growing in whorls at intervals round the stem. The
flowers are from 1-3; large open bells, of a rich orange-scarlet within,
spotted with purplish-brown or black. The outer surface of the petals is
pale orange; anthers six, on long filaments; pollen of a brick red, or
brown colour; stigma three cleft. The Lily belongs to the artificial
class and order, _Hexandria monogynia_.
Many flowers increase in beauty of colour and size under cultivation in
our gardens, but our glorious Lily can hardly be seen to greater
advantage than when growing wild on the open plains and prairies, under
the bright skies of its native wilderness.
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