THE ABERRANT TRIBES OF LILIACE^. 



407 



the exception of VeratreaB and HelonieaG, the tribes are not satis- 

 factory. "We have in the suborder both the gamophyllous and 

 polyphyllous types of perianth copiously represented, and both 

 the bulbous and non-bulbous types of rootstock. About the geo- 

 graphical distribution of the suborder there is nothing peculiar ; 

 it simply follows the general plan of Liliaceae, taking the order 

 as a whole, Colchicaceae, broadly speaking, being found in all the 

 floras into which the order enters. 



Next, as to the aberrant tribes. Conantherae, with six genera 

 and eleven species, is obviously a link of connexion between 

 Liliaceae and Amaryllidese. In all the genera except Tecophilcea 

 the ovary simply adheres to the perianth towards its base, as in 

 Stenanthium and Anticlea. The anthers always dehisce by ter- 

 minal pores ; but we have this occurring in the suborder Aspara- 

 gaceae in Dianella. Four of the genera are South- American and 

 tw r o South- African. The habit of all, except Walleria, is Anthe- 

 ricoid. 



Liriopese and Gilliesieae are both very interesting structurally. 

 Both are small tribes, sharply limited geographically, which ex- 

 hibit in their extreme genera a very striking departure from the 

 Liliaceous type and contain other genera in which the interval is 

 gradually bridged over. In Liriopeae we have fourteen species 

 under three genera. In all the three the fruit and seeds are pre- 

 cisely alike, the latter rupturing the pericarp in an early stage, 

 and growing afterwards to a large size and berry-like appearance. 

 In its perianth and stamens, Liriope itself does not in any way 

 recede from the typical Liliaceous type ; Fluggea simply differs 

 from it by the ovary being adnate at the base to the perianth ; 

 whilst the extreme genus Peliosanthes shows a partially inferior 

 ovary and a corona apparently homologous with that of Narcissus, 

 inside which the anthers are placed. In GilliesieaB, where we 

 have seven genera almost restricted to Chili, of which five are 

 monotypic, Gilliesia and Miersia represent the extreme difference, 

 and the other five the bridge which connects it with typical 

 LiliaeesB. 



2g2 



