C in ] 



Mor^ea Ramosa. Branching Moraa. 



Clafs and Order* 



Triandria Monocynia. 



Generic Character. — Fid. N os - 593, 613, Sc 695. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 



MORiEA ramofa (imberbis) caule ftri&o paniculato-ramofif- 

 fimo, ramulis fafciculatis ; foliis lato-fubulatis, 

 carinato-canaliculatis, margine ferrulato-fcabnda ; 

 laminis uniformibus unguibus duplo longioribus ; 

 fpatha germine et capiula parva. G. 



IRIS ramofa. Tbunb. Dijf. n. 24. prod. 12. Mart. Mill, Dicl. 



mud. sp.pi. 1.234. 



IRIS ramojijfima. Linn. Suppl. 99. 



The leaves of this very diftinct fpecles have not the caudate 

 termination fo ufual in this genus, and are further anomalous 

 in being acutely carinate-channelled with ferrulate margins. 

 Root a Bulb-Tuber. Stem three feet high, round, upright, and 

 very much branched, with fomething of a tree-like appearance, 

 is as thick as the little finger at the bafe, and produces a pro- 

 fufion of bloom in fucceflion, having however feldom more than 

 two or three flowers open at one time ; the fmell of thefe refembles 

 that of the Day-Lily (Hemerocai.lis jtaz) $ they are large, 

 but the fpathes, germen, and capfule, are very fmall in pro- 

 portion, which probably led Thunberg, who ever defcribes 

 from dried fpecimens, to think that the flowers were fo like- 

 wife, as when they are rolled up together with the germen 

 they are not bigger than a pea; ftyle two or three times fhorter 

 than the ungues, inner lip of the ftigmas equal to the fmaller 

 laminae, upright, with acuminate fegments, which are fome- 

 what remote ; inner lip fmall, bidentately notched, with re- 

 curved teeth. — This is certainly one of the mod defirable of the 

 genus, continuing to bloom for near a month. Never figured 

 in any work known to us, and moft probably was introduced 

 from the Cape for the firft time by Mr. Woodford, at whofe 

 garden our drawing was taken the latter-end of laft May. 



Found by Thunberg at the Cape, on fandy fpots in the 

 diftncl of Schwartland. G. 



