MB. J. G. BAKER ON HYPOXIDACEJE. 93 



A SynopsiVbf Hypoxidacese. 

 By J. G. Baker, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. 



[Read February 21, 1878.] 



Another group of petaloid Monocotyledons (in" addition to Li- 

 liaceae and Iridacese) of which a synopsis is greatly needed for 

 daily use is Hypoxidaceae. The latest that is practically usable 

 is that of Roemer and Schultes, published in the second part of 

 the 7th volume of their ' Systema Vegetabilium/ in 1830. This, 

 for the date, is a full summary of what was known and had been 

 written about these plants; but of a large proportion of the species 

 the authors had had no opportunity of examining specimens, and 

 could therefore only cite the descriptions of other writers, with- 

 out being able to reduce them to one common formula. An 

 author writing under such circumstances is both sure to admit 

 too many species and to fail to appreciate their true relationship. 

 This first point is illustrated by the fact that from the species of 

 Hypoxidacese admitted in this work we must deduct as synonyms 

 or trifling varieties at least 25 per cent. The Order belongs 

 essentially to the warm temperate zone ; so that the number of 

 liew species which have been discovered since 1830 is not so large 

 in proportion as it would most likely have been in a set of plants 

 more tropical in their geographical distribution. But a consider- 

 able number of additions have been made, principally in Natal 

 and Tropical Africa. The number of species which I have ad- 

 mitted is 64 ; and by counting as species less clearly marked forms 

 which many would rank as such, but which I have placed as varieties, 

 the number might be raised to 80. As I have taken considerable 

 pains during several years to collect information about them, and 

 have been able to examine specimens of all but two species, which 

 I know from figures only, I propose now to attempt to supply 



the much-required synopsis. 



Hypoxidaceae, we may say, form a group of plants containing 

 4 genera and between 60 and 70 species — differing from Amaryl- 

 lidaceae (using the term in a restricted sense) by their tuberous 

 root-stocks, persistent leaves of grass-like or coriaceous, never 

 fleshy, texture, by their more persistent or firmer perianth-seg- 

 ments, of which the three outer are generally green and hairy on 

 the outside, by the general tendency of their leaves, scapes, and 

 other parts to become clothed with hairs, and by the thick erus- 

 taceous testa of their seeds, which show a couple of more or less 









