_Lilium canadense_
_Flowers_--Yellow to orange-red, of a deeper shade within, and speckled
with dark, reddish-brown dots. One or several (rarely many) nodding on
long peduncles from the summit. Perianth bell-shaped, of 6 spreading
segments 2 to 3 in. long, their tips curved backward to the middle; 6
stamens, with reddish-brown linear anthers; 1 pistil, club-shaped; the
stigma 3-lobed. _Stem_: 2 to 5 ft. tall, leafy, from a bulbous rootstock
composed of numerous fleshy white scales. _Leaves_: Lance-shaped to
oblong; usually in whorls of fours to tens, or some alternate. _Fruit_:
An erect, oblong, 3-celled capsule, the flat, horizontal seeds packed in
2 rows in each cavity.
_Preferred Habitat_--Swamps, low meadows, moist fields.
_Flowering Season_--June-July.
_Distribution_--Nova Scotia to Georgia, westward beyond the Mississippi.
Not our gorgeous lilies that brighten the low-lying meadows in early
summer with pendent, swaying bells; possibly not a true lily at all was
chosen to illustrate the truth which those who listened to the Sermon on
the Mount, and we, equally anxious, foolishly overburdened folk of
to-day, so little comprehend.
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither
do they spin:
“And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.”
Opinions differ as to the lily of Scripture. Eastern peoples use the
same word interchangeably for the tulip, anemone, ranunculus, iris, the
water-lilies, and those of the field. The superb scarlet Martagon Lily
_(L. chalcedonicum)_, grown in gardens here, is not uncommon wild in
Palestine; but whoever has seen the large anemones there “carpeting
every plain and luxuriantly pervading the land” is inclined to believe
that Jesus, who always chose the most familiar objects in the daily life
of His simple listeners to illustrate His teachings, rested His eyes on
the slopes about Him glowing with anemones in all their matchless
loveliness. What flower served Him then matters not at all. It is enough
that scientists--now more plainly than ever before--see the universal
application of the illustration the more deeply they study nature, and
can include their “little brothers of the air” and the humblest flower
at their feet when they say with Paul, “In God we live and move and have
our being.”
Tallest and most prolific of bloom among our native lilies, as it is the
most variable in color, size, and form, the Turk’s Cap, or Turban Lily
_(L. superbum)_, sometimes nearly merges its identity into its Canadian
sister’s. Travellers by rail between New York and Boston know how
gorgeous are the low meadows and marshes in July or August, when its
clusters of deep yellow, orange, or flame-colored lilies tower above the
surrounding vegetation. Like the color of most flowers, theirs
intensifies in salt air. Commonly from three to seven lilies appear in a
terminal group; but under skilful cultivation even forty will crown the
stalk that reaches a height of nine feet where its home suits it
perfectly; or maybe only a poor array of dingy yellowish caps top a
shrivelled stem when unfavorable conditions prevail. There certainly
are times when its specific name seems extravagant.