Tab. 5427. 

 gladiolus sericeo-villosus. 



Shaggy -stemmed Cornflag. 



Nat. Ord. ImDACEifc. — Triandria Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Perigonium corollinum, superum, irregulare, tubo teretiusculo, limbi 

 sexpartiti bilabiati laciniis ineequalibus. Stamina 3, perigouii tubo inserta, 

 erecta v. subsecunda, inclusa v. exserta ; jtlamenta filiforraia ; antkeres lincares, 

 dorso supra basin affixa?. Ovarium inferum, obtuse trigonum, triloculare. Ovula 

 plurima, in loculorum angulo centrali pluriseriata, pendula, anatropa. Stylus 

 filiformis ; stigmata 3, petaloideo-dilatata. Capsula membranacea, trilocularis, 

 loculicido-trivalvis. Semina plurima, pendula, compresso-plana, alata v. rarius 

 globosa, subbaccata, testa laxa vel carnosa, rhaplie intra testam libera, valida. 

 Embryo axilis, albumine carnoso parmn brevior, extremitate radiculari umbilicum 

 attingente, supera. — Herbse in Europa media et in regions Mediterranea rariores, 

 in Capite Bonce Spei copiosce, multiformes ; radice bulboso-tuberosa, foliis dis- 

 tichis equitanlibus, floribus in spira simplici secundis, scepius nutantibus, spatha 

 bivalvi persistente. Endl. 



Gladiolus sericeo-villosus ; elatus, caule spathisque sericeo-villosissimis, foliis 

 bi-tripedalibus et ultra elongatis lineari-ensiformibus striatis, spica pedali 

 et ultra multiflora, tubo corolte spatham aequante, limbo campanulato sub- 

 ringente luteo-virescente rubro tincto, laciniis ovatis subuniformibus concavis 

 superiore majore, staminibus subexsertis, styli ramis elongatis curvatis. 



Communicated to the Royal Gardens of Kew by our valued 

 friend W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., being one of the many novel- 

 ties detected by his collector, Mr. Cooper, in the interior of the 

 Cape Colony. It is quite unlike any of the numerous species of 

 Gladiolus figured in botanical or horticultural works, and equally 

 unlike any of the Cape species in our herbarium, and is a striking 

 plant from its size, three to four feet high, the very long and 

 densely-flowered spike, and the beautiful long, shaggy-silky 

 clothing to the stem and spathes, while the rest of the plant is 

 quite free from hairs. The colour of the flowers, too, is very 

 peculiar, yellow-green, but tinged with pale-yellowish brown, 

 more striking in the living plant than as seen from a coloured 

 iiojure. 



I do not venture to notice the affinities of the species of a 



FEBRUARY 1ST, 1864. 



