berry 
FERRARIA UNDULATA. CURLED FERRARIA: 
Je SMSEuiiesis 
_ Clafs and Order. 
GyNANDRIA TRIANDRIA. 
: Generic Charaéer. 
Monogyna. Spathe uniflore, Pelala 6, undulato-crifpata. 
Stigmata cucullata. Cap/. 3-locularis, infera. 
Specific CharaGer and Synonyms. 
FERRARIA undulata caule multifloro. Linn. Syjt. Vegetab: 
\ p- 820. ed. 14. Murr. Ait. Kew. p. 305. v. 3- 
FLOS INDICUS ¢e violaceo fufcus radice tuberofa. J. B. 
Ferrar. Flora. ed. nov. p. 167. t. 171. 
GLADIOLUS INDICUS e violaceo fufcus radice tuberofa 
nobis. Mori/. bift. /. 4.t.4.f.7- 
NARCISSUS INDICUS flore faturate purpureo. Awd: 
Ef. 2. t. 49. f 9- 
IRIS ftellata cyclamine radice pullo flore. Barrel. Icon. 1216. 
tent 
_ The old Botanifts appear to have been wonderfully at a lofs 
to what family they fhould refer this very fingular plant, as 
will appear on confulting the fynonyms; Burman at length 
made a diftin&t genus of it, naming it Ferraria in honour of 
Jou. Baptista Ferrartus, by whom it was defcribed, and 
very well figured, in his Flora ex de Florum Cultura, publifhed 
at Amfterdam, in 1646. : 
Mr. Mi cer informs us, that he received roots of this plant 
from Dr. Jos Baster, F. R.S. of Zirkzee, who obtained 
it from the Cape, of which it is a native. | 
In the vegetable line, it is certainly one of the moft fingulat 
and beautiful of nature’s produétions; much it is to be re- 
gretted that its flowers are of very fhort duration, opening 
in the morning and finally clofing in the afternoon of the 
fame day; a {trong plant will, however, throw out many 
bloffoms in fucceffion. - 
In its ftru€ture and aeconomy, it approaches very near to 
the Si/princhium. 
It flowers very early in the fpring, from February to May; 
and is ufually propagated by offsets, which its bulbs produce 
in tolerable plenty. It requires a treatment fimilar to the 
Ixias and other Cape bulbs. Our figure was drawn from 4 
plant which flowered this fpring, in the poffeflion of 
R. Forster, Efg. of Tarnham-Green. 
