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LILIUM BROWNII var. COLCHESTERI, Wilson.
G. A. C. HERKLOTS.
This is the first of what may prove to be a series of short articles on especially beautiful or interesting herbaceous plants of the island of Hong Kong and the Territories on the mainland. This Colony has a number of beautiful flowers others than those of the orchids or those borne by shrubs and trees, of these the Lily here described is the most magnificent and the most famous. Other plants, each of which well deserves an article to itself, are the Iris, Iris speculatrix, Hance; Belamcanda punctata, Manch (Pardanthus chinensis, Ker.); and Lycoris aurea, Herb., amongst the Monocotyledons and Platycodon grandiflorus, A.DC. (the Hong Kong Hairbell): Hoya carnosa, R. Br.; Aeginetia indica, Roxb; and Nepenthes phyllamphora, Willd., (the Pitcher Plant), amongst the Dicotyledons.
The Lilies of
A very complete description of this lily (illustrated by Plate IV), is given by the late Ernest H. Wilson in his book entitled Eastern Asia" (6). I quote below extensively from this authority. On page 29 Wilson writes of Lilium Brownii F. E. Brown as follows:-
"This Lily is said to have been introduced into England about 1835, and to have first flowered with F. E. Brown at Slough, near Windsor, in 1837; about that date he gave three bulbs to M. Miellez, a horticulturist of Lille. In 1838, it was introduced into Belgium and Holland, and in 1841 made its public debut at a Horticultural Exposition held in Lille. It was at once acclaimed and its cultivation in Belgium and Holland assiduously en- tered upon. Where Brown obtained his bulbs from is unknown. Accord- ing to Spa, von Siebold ventured the opinion that it might be a native of Nepal and also of China and Japan. To date no such Lily as L. Brownii F. E. Brown is known from Nepal. At the time of its introduction only the Dutch had trade intercourse with Japan and no Lily exactly agreeing with it has been found in Japan, though the variety colchesteri Wils. is cultivated there. In China at that date only Macao and Canton were open to trade (except that Spanish ships has a right to call at Amoy), but the British East India Company maintained a brisk trade with Canton and their ships continually brought back plants which notably enriched English gardens. These are the facts and since a wild Lily approximately identical with typical L. Brownii F. E. Brown grows in Hong Kong, on mountains near Canton and in the neighbouring province of Kwangsi, and that no such Lily has been found elsewhere, is it not reasonable to suppose that Brown's bulbs came from Canton? Moreover, the fragrant, yellow- throated var. colchesteri Wils. is authentically known to have reached England with L. tigrinum Ker-Gawl. from the Fa te Gardens, Canton, being sent by William Kerr to Kew on the East Indiaman Addington," Captain Kirkpatrick, in 1804."
44
Henry
Wilson then gives his arguments in favour of differentiating between the cultivated L. Brownii and the wildling L. Brownii var. colchesteri. the variety he writes on pages 31, 32, and 33.
Of
The Hong Kong Naturalist.
The Hong Kong Naturalist.
Vol. III, No. 2.
Plate 16. Nest and Eggs of White-bellied Sea Eagle, Haliaetus leucogaster. Printed by S.C.M. Post.
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