The flowers of this group of lilies are mostly small but numerous. In all except _L. Hansoni_, _L. Avenaceum_, and _L. Medeoloides_, the segments of the perianth are very revolute, which fact has given to these lilies the name of “Turk’s cap,” from the resemblance of the fully-opened blossom to a turbaned cap.
The true _Martagons_ are among the easiest of the lilies to cultivate, but they have one or two peculiarities which would seem to negative this statement. For instance, these lilies very much dislike being meddled with. Consequently they rarely do well the first year they are planted. It is very annoying after having bought fifty bulbs of _L. Pomponium_ not to have a single blossom the first season. But you have only got to wait until the bulbs have established themselves, when they will flower year after year and increase at a prodigious rate.
All the true _Martagons_ like a cool loamy soil. On the whole they object to peat. Many kinds, as the common _Martagon_, for instance, like chalk, and are seen to perfection when grown in heavy loam on a limestone bottom. The heavy, black loam of London suits the _Martagons_ very well, and we have seen these lilies in greater perfection in suburban gardens than anywhere else.
First among the true _Martagons_ stands the lily which has given its name to the group—_Lilium Martagon_, or _the_ Turk’s-cap lily. This lily has a very wide range, being found wild throughout Central Europe and Siberia. We have said that it also grows wild in England, but our readers can hardly expect ever to see the plant growing wild in our island. It used to be fairly plentiful in Surrey, Devonshire and the Isle of Wight, but the rage for collecting specimens has pretty well exterminated the species from our shores. It is, however, occasionally met with, especially in Surrey.
The _Martagon_ lily is one of our oldest garden flowers. When once established, it is very loath to go and very free to increase, so in many gardens this lily has come up and flowered every year for centuries.
The bulb of _Lilium Martagon_ is about the size of a hen’s egg, and of the ordinary ovoidal shape. It is very compact and usually stained on the outside with bright yellow or purple. The leaves are of a greyish-green colour and are arranged in whorls. The flower-head is visible when the plant is but a few inches high. It consists of from four to forty little buds closely packed together. The lily flowers in July, and a well-grown specimen is a very pretty object.