Tas. 6789. 
ALLIUM MACRANIHUM. 
Native of the Eastern Himalayas. 
Nat. Ord. Lintacez.—Tribe ALLIER. 
Genus Attium, Linn. ; (Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pl. vol. iii. p- 802.) 
Attu (Rhiziridium) macranthum ; rhizomate indistincte bulboso, fibris radica- 
libus pluribus carnosis, foliis linearibus acuminatis flaccidis glabris viridibus — 
‘iadalibas vel sesquipedalibus, caule valido tereti 2-3-pedali, umbella laxa 
multiflora pedicellis elongatis spathe valvis ovatis cuspidatis pedicellis brevi- 
oribus, perianthio campanulato splendide purpureo segmentis oblongis obtusis 
valde imbricatis diu conniventibus, staminibus sepissime inclusis antheris 
parvis oblongis filamentis subcylindricis conformibus, ovario globoso, stylo- 
- elongato exserto. : 
* A. macranthum, Baker in Journ. Bot. 1874, p. 293; Regel Allior, Monogr. 
pp- 30 and 182, : 
This is a fine tall East Himalayan Alliwm belonging to 
the group in which the rootstock is scarcely at all bulbous. 
Before Mr. Elwes brought it home alive, it was known to 
us only by a single dried specimen gathered in 1848 by 
Sir J..D. Hooker. This was obtained in the Lachen valley 
in Sikkim, at an elevation of 13,000 feet above sea-level. 
Mr. Elwes gathered it in an excursion to the Chumbi 
valley, but he is not quite certain whether on the Tibetan 
or Sikkim side of the frontier. Amongst the European 
species its nearest affinity is with A. pedemontanum, Vill, 
and A. insubricum, Boiss. and Reut. What with its 
robust habit and very numerous flowers of bright mauve- 
purple, it is for horticultural purposes one of the finest of 
all the Alliums that have been brought into cultivation ; 
and of course, coming from such an altitude, it is sure to 
be perfectly hardy. Our drawing was made from a plant 
that flowered with Mr. Elwes at Cirencester in July, 1833. 
 Descr. Rootstock indistinctly bulbous, with a dense tuft 
of fleshy cylindrical root-fibres produced from its base. — 
Leaves numerous, linear, thin in texture, a foot or a foot 
and a half long, tapering gtadually from the base upwards 
DECEMBER Ist, 1884. 
