YELLOW DAY LILY. Hemerocallis Flava. Narcissi and Natural Order Liliacea and Coronaria. Asphodeleæ, Juss. A Genus of the Hexandria Mo nogynia Class. Aux feux dont l'air étincelle S'ouvre la belle de jour; Zéphyr la flatte de l'aile : La friponne encore appelle Coquettes, c'est votre emblème: Sans éclat, le plaisir même Devient pour vous sans attrait. PHILIPPON DE LA MADELEINE. THIS fragile beauty is made the emblem of coquetry, because its flower seldom lasts a second day. The generic name is derived from the Greek Huépa, a day, and Kaλλos, beauty, and hence the French name it Belle d'un jour. Tournefort called it Lis-Asphodele, because the plant has the root of an Asphodel, and the flower of a Lily. This species of Hemerocallis is a native of Hungary, Siberia, and the northern parts of China. M. Pirolle tells us that it is also indigenous to the damp forests of Piedmont. Both the Yellow and the Copper-coloured Day Lilies are old inhabitants of our gardens, since Gerard says in 1596, that "these Lilies do growe in my garden, and also in the gardens of herbarists and louers of fine and rare plants." This excellent old writer distinguishes these Lilies by the title of Lilium non bulbosum, the root being partly fibrous and partly tuberous, and not bulbous like other Lilies. Parkinson writes on the Yellow Day Lily, under the name of Liliasphodelus, from its root resembling that of the Asphodel; and he tells us that it grows naturally in many moist places in Germany. The Yellow Day Lily flowers in June, and although the blossoms are not durable, they are followed by others in succession, so that the plant continues to display its beauty, and to give out its agreeable fragrance for a considerable length of time, and more particularly so when planted in a moist soil and a situation somewhat shady. It is an admirable flower for the vase of the saloon, as its graceful corollas, being supported on an erect stem, show to peculiar advantage when towering above roses or lilacs. This plant is of a hardy nature, and of easy propagation, being increased by numerous off-sets from the roots, which should be removed about every third year in the autumn, observing to keep them out of the earth as short a time as possible. The Yellow Day Lily is also raised from seed, which, when sown in the autumn on an open bed, sends up young plants in the spring, which generally flower the second year. These plants require considerable room for their roots to spread, and they make a fine appearance when in large clumps amongst flowering shrubs. It The Copper-coloured Day Lily, Hemerocallis fulva. This plant frequently grows to the height of four feet, and is therefore better calculated to ornament the shrubbery than the parterre. flowers in July and August; and although the corollas wither at the close of the same day on which they expand, yet the plant continues gay for nearly three weeks, from the succession of flowers that follow each other daily. This species is a native of the Levant, and is found also in some parts of the south of France. Gerard called it Lilium non bulbosum Phaniceum. It, requires the same treatment as the Yellow Day Lily, but never ripens its seed in this country. The White flowered Day Lily, Hemerocallis Japonica, and the Blue-flowered, H. cærulea, are natives of Japan, and were introduced to our gardens in the year 1790. The latter may be seen pictured in the Botanical Magazine, 894, and the former at page 1433 of the same valuable work. ADONIS. Adonis. Natural Order Multisiliquæ. Ranunculacea, Juss. A Genus of the Polyandria Polygynia Class. Je n'ai jamais chanté que l'ombrage des bois, Qui fut pleuré des Ris, qui fut plaint des Amours. LA FONTAINE. "ADONIS stained with his blood the flower that bears his name," and hence in floral language it is made the emblem of sorrowful remembrances, although some poets make it symbolical of the chase, in allusion to his love of hunting. This idea inspired a modern Venus, whose swain was passionately fond of the chase, to deplore his absence in the following pretty lines: O fleur, si chère à Cythérée, Je frémis pour mon jeune amant. That this flower owes its name to the favourite |