Tas. 6406. 
FRITILLARIA KARELINI. 
Native of Central Asia, 
Nat. Ord. Littacex.—Tribe Torres. 
Genus Fritrmrari, Linn.; (Baker in Journ, Linn. Soc, vol. xxv. p. 251). 
Fritiiiaria (Phinopetalum) Karelini ; bulbo globoso squamis paucis crassis, caule 
brevi scabro foliis 4-6 preedito, infimis lanceolatis alternis vel oppositis, 
superioribus linearibus alternis, floribus 2-12 cernuis in racemum dispositis, 
pedicellis ascendentibus brevibus, bracteis magnis foliaceis linearibus inferi- 
oribus geminis, perianthii campanulati pallide purpurei segmentis oblongis 
obtusis unguiculatis maculis paucis saturatioribus preeditis flore expanso 
supra medium patulis, unguibus omnium distincte foveolatis, ungue 
superioris profunde saccato, staminibus perianthio duplo brevioribus fila- 
mentis subulatis scabris, stylo integro ovario duplo longiori, capsulis latioribus 
quam longis apice umbilicatis basi truncatis, seminibus crebris discoideis. 
F. Karelini, Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xiv. p. 268. 
F. gibbosa, Boiss. Diagn. part vii. p. 107; Walp. Ann, vol. i. p. 852. 
F. pterocarpa, Stocks in Hook. Kew. Journ, vol. iv. p. 180. 
Raworeratum Karelini, Fisch. in Hdin. New Phil. Journ, 1830, p. 19; D. Don in 
Sweet Brit. Flor. Gard. ser. ii. t. 283; Kunth Enum. vol. iv. p, 256; Flore 
des Serres, t. 2214; Regel Gartenfl. 1874 p. 161 t. 796; FU. Turkest. p. 151. 
R. Boissieri, Klatt in Hamb. Gartenzeit. vol. xvi. p. 489. 
This singular plant has been known for a long time. It 
was sent as long ago as 1836 by Dr. Fischer, of St. Peters- 
burg, to Mr. Anderson, of the Chelsea Botanic Garden, and 
was figured at the time in Sweet’s British Flower Garden 
from the dwarf starved specimens that flowered at Chelsea. 
Within the last few years it has been again introduced, 
and has been grown successfully by several different 
cultivators both in Germany and in England. In a wild 
state it is widely diffused, as it reaches from the Ural and 
Altai mountains southward through Persia and Turkestan 
to Beloochistan and Afghanistan. It has not yet been found 
within the bounds of the Flora Indica. The claims of 
Rhinopetalum to be regarded as a genus distinct from 
Fritillaria rest only upon the fact that the foveole of the 
JANUARY Ist, 1879. 
