The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-04-18
wATEl. LILIES.
Gala 1ilIcs and LILIES OF the Valley Not
Lilies nt All. W

49, 30
Lilies at All.
Last evenings lecture in the mechan-
les course at North Sheffield hall, says
the New Haven Palladium, was by Prof..
Daniel @. Eaton, and bis subject was
"Water Lilies" lie said: "The word
lily is applied to many plants incorrect
ly. 1t Is applied to the lily Of the val
10y, which is no more u lily than is the
onion. The word Is also used for the
plant styled 'calla lily which Is not a
lily at all, but only n very. close rela.
ton to the 'Jack.in.the.pulpit.'
"The water lily Is divided into eight
general and thirty.five or forty different
species. OF the true water lily there are
two species which are exclusively Asiat-
ic. The leaves OF these range from four
to ten inches In diameter, arc round,
and are 30 repellant OF water that drops
do not rest on their surface at NIL, being
prevented by globulcs OF air. Oar com.
mon water lily has a flower four inches
In width, encased by four green leaves
md containing from twenty 10 thirty
petals. Tho best time to SEQ It Is In
early morning. Our water lily has two
other varieties. One Is email and pink.
ish, found in New Jersey. Then there
ia the great rose.colored fly, found near
Sandwich, on Cape Cod. The flower Of
this lily Is beautiful and five inches
broad. | had one oil these lilies in a tub
some years ngo, but 1t faded year after
year until 1t finally became white. Then
there Is in Texas the purple lily and in
Florida the yellow lily.
audubon, in his books on natural
history, associated with tho illuHtra.
tons OF birds the trees or sur.
rouudings in which they were found.
With the swan he connected yellow
lilies. This was thought to be but n
fancy Of the great naturalist until in
1877 a lady visiting Florida discovered q
lagoon bearing acres and acres Of yellow
lilies. The discovery was hailed with
delight by eminent botanists all over the
world. .'m
"Ihere are these four species in this
country. There arc others in the Yves
Indies, Africa, Asia, Madagascar and
other countries. Turning from the beau
tiful water lily we have its poor cousin
the frog lily, which grows in shallow
pools. There arc two kinds In Connect
cut, the common large kind and ,
smaller, rarer kind. l have seer this
latter in the Shetuckct river, lear Will
mantle, and 1t Is also to be found il
some portions OF the Housatonic, sauG
also at a place in North Haven.
"The largest water lily knownis found
in the lagoons Of Central America. Il
was discovered in 1901, but 1t was not
named until 1887, when DR.. Lindsey, O
England, named it in honor OF hi.
youthful sovereign, Victoria Regina
Seeds were taken 10 England in 1850
aud a little later 10 Massachusetts,, anc
in both cases were lilies successfully
grown, The leaves OF this lily
are immense, being from four to six fee
in diameter, and they have been founG
rs large as twelve feet in diameter. The
leaf has gorgeously tinted upturned
rims and the floating power is very
great. A half.grown child has rested
upon 1t in perfect safety. The flower il
t%wenty.three inches in diameter, rang
ing from pure white to pink and then tc
crimson. The lily is now being grown
successfully by Mr.. S%turteyant, Of New
Jersey. The second lily in size is the
lotus There are only two species oI
this genus. One is found in Asia and
Africa and the other in this country,
The American lotus has been growing
in a pond in Lyme, in this State, foI
a century at least. Its flower is pale
yellow. There are great lagoons in
Wethersfield and Glastonbury in which
I am certain this lily must ut n time
have grown.
Most Of these water lilies may be
grown easily in a tub kept in the celia,
during the winter and the garden in the
spring. There is no reason why the
cultivation of lilies should not be much
more general than it is" &