Descr. Bulb ovate, enveloped with a dark brown, mem- 
branous and loose coat, which forms a sheath considerably — 
above the bulb. Stem three to four or five inches high, — 
slender, rounded, wavy, somewhat branched, glaucous. At — 
the origin ofa branch bearing a leaf with a sheathing base, — 
which produces flowers like the spatha. Leaves mostly — 
radical, distichous, linear, narrow-acuminate, deeply striat- — 
ed, sheathing at the base, the inner ones about as long as — 
the stem. Spatha of two unequal leaves, about two-flow- 
ered. Peduncle an inch long, curved. Perianth of six — 
oblongo-spathulate, bright purple-blue sepals, yellow atthe 
base, slightly waved, spreading, the three inner ones a little _ 
smaller: Stamens three: Filaments inserted a little above _ 
the base of the perianth, nearly erect, free, yellow, broader _ 
at the base. Anthers orange, linear- oblong, eventually 
twisted. Style yellow below, dividing into three spreading _ 
slender branches, which are longer than the stamens, purple, 
grooved above. Stigmas velvety, emarginate. Ovary in- Q 
ferior, oblong, glabrous. 
Fig. 1. Flower, with the Perianth removed. 2. The same, with the Sta- 
mens also removed :—magnified. 
