margined with small close brown horny ascending spines. 

 Peduncle a foot long, cernuous, green, slightly furf uraceous ; 

 lower bract-leaves distant, lanceolate; upper eight to 

 nine aggregated towards the base of the spike, large, 

 oblong- lanceolate, bright red. Spike dense, pendulous, 

 simple, three to four inches long, almost hidden by the 

 large bracts; rachis mealy. Ovary oblong, mealy, slial- 

 lowly sulcate, pale green, finally half an inch long ; calyx- 

 segments small, ovate, greenish. Petals lanceolate, green, 

 two inches long, curling up spirally from the base. Stamens 

 shorter than the petals ; anthers linear, basifixed, yellow. 

 Style reaching to the tip of the anthers ; stigmatose forks 

 linear, twisted spirally. — J". G. Baker. 



Fig. 1, Complete flower, life-size; 2, base of petal, showing the insertion of a 

 stamen ; 3, anther and upper part of filament ; 4, stigmas and top of style : — all 

 more or less enlarged. 



