The North American Continent has given us many species of lilies. Up to the present we have only described three: _L. Washingtonianum_, _L. Parryi_, and _L. Philadelphicum_. These three lilies are certainly very different from any that the Old Continent has given us. But we now meet with ten species, very nearly allied, and yet in no way resembling any others. These are the swamp lilies, a sub-section of the Martagons, the ten members of which are all confined to North America. And they are a very characteristic group of lilies. In most of these species the bulb is annual, being produced at the extremity of a thick perennial rhizome. Why all the American lilies (except three) should bear rhizomes and annual bulbs, while all the Old World species bear perennial bulbs without rhizomes we cannot say, but there must be some important reason to account for it. There is only one American lily which bears a globose bulb in any way like the ordinary bulbs of the Eastern species. This lily is _Lilium Columbianum_, a perfect little gem in its way. In all the swamp lilies, the leaves are arranged in whorls, the stems are tall and slender, and the blossoms are nodding, only slightly recurved, and of a yellow or orange colour, usually spotted more or less thickly with black or purple. The following are the ten species of swamp lilies, together with the districts from which they hail:— 1. _Canadense_, North-East America. 2. _Superbum_, Canada to Georgia. 3. _Parvum_, Western United States. 4. _Maritimum_, Coast of California. 5. _Roezlii_, Rocky Mountains. 6. _Grayi_, (?) 7. _Pardalinum_, California. 8. _Californicum_, California. 9. _Columbianum_, Oregon. 10. _Humboldti_, Sierra Nevada, Cal. By some authorities _L. Parvum_, _L. Maritimum_, _L. Roezlii_ and _L. Grayi_ are considered to be merely varieties of _L. Canadense_; and _L. Californicum_ is said to be only a variation from _L. Pardalinum_, but we prefer to consider them as separate species. And there are some authors who consider _Lilium Bolanderi_, _L. Pardalinum Michauxi_, _L. Pardalinum Warei_ and others, which we consider to be merely varieties, to be distinct species. The culture of the swamp lilies is perfectly simple, and if attention is paid to one or two details, failure is extremely improbable. The swamp lilies want peat; they will grow in a mixture of peat and sand. But to thoroughly establish them a compost of peat, leaf-mould and sand should be used. If to this can be added the dried mud from the bottom of a ditch, so much the better. These lilies are always thirsty, and can never get too much water. They like a shady swampy spot, some of them preferring the drier banks of streams. The bulb must be handled with great care, for both the bulb itself and the rhizome are very tender, and the numerous thick fleshy scales which compose them are readily detached by rough handling.