spreading, linear from a_ suddenly-dilated base, one 
and a half or two feet long, pale green, pungent, 
copiously filiferous on the margin. Peduncle twice as long 
as the leaves, furnished with copious spreading, linear 
bracts leafy. Inflorescence an ample, dense, rhomboid 
panicle; racemes lax, the lower six or nine inches long ; 
pedicels in pairs, articulated at the apex; bracts ovate- 
lanceolate, scariose, longer than the pedicels. Perianth 
white, two inches long, hardly at all tinged with green on 
the outside when mature. Stamens one-third the length 
of the perianth ; filaments pubescent. Ovary with a short, 
pubescent, columnar style. Capsule oblong, coriaceous, - 
two inches or more long, finally dehiscent. Seeds large, 
black, discoid.—J. G. Baker. : 
Fig. 1, Stamen ; 2, pistil, both enlarged; 3, whole plant, much reduced. 
