Tab. 8680. 

 THURANTHOS macranthum. 



South Africa. 



Liliaceae. Tribe Scillear. 

 Thueanthos, C. H. Wright in Kew Bulletin, 1916, p. 233. 



Tlmranthos macranthum, C. H. Wright: species unica. 



Herba perennis. Bulbus 12 cm. diametro, squamis crassis carnosis instructus. 

 Folia hysterantha, linearia, acuminata, carinata, glabra, 70 cm. longa, 

 fere 2 cm. lata. Scapus 1-1 • 8 in. altus, cylindricus, basi purpurascens ; 

 bracteae deltoideae, acuminatae, 2 mm. longae ; pedicelli 4 cm. longi, sub 

 anthesin decurvati, floribus pendulis. Prrianthii segmenta libera, 

 aequalia, recurvata, oblonga, obtusa, luteo-brunnea, costa lata viridi 

 uninervia instructa, 2 - 5 cm. longa, 5 mm. lata. Filamcntorum pars 

 inferior 12 mm. longa, compressa, valide incurvata, luteo-brunnea ; pars 

 superior 5 mm. longa, cylindrica, erecta, albescens ; antherae dorsifixae, 

 oblongae, 3 mm. longae. Ovarium oblongum, trilobatum ; stylus colum- 

 naris, staminibus paullo longior ; stigma discoideum ; ovula plana. Capsula, 

 oblonga, laevis, 3*5 cm. longa, 1 cm. diametro, pedicillis suberectis 

 instructa. — Drimia ? macrantha, Baker in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. vol. xv. 

 Heft. 3, p. 7, et in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vol. vi. p. 442. Ornithogalum? 

 macranthum, Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xiii. p. 280. — C. H. Wright. 



The South African Squill which forms the subject of 

 our illustration was first met with by Drege in 1840 in 

 the Uitenhage and Queenstown divisions of Cape Colony, 

 and when originally described was referred doubtfully 

 to the genus Ornithogalum. It was subsequently met 

 with in the eastern coast districts of the Colony and in 

 Griqualand East, and on account of its scaly bulb was 

 transferred from Ornithogalum to Drimia, in which genus, 

 however, its position, owing to there being in our species 

 no campanulate tube, was equally doubtful. More 

 recently it has been met with near Umtata in Tembuland 

 by Canon G. E. Mason and Miss M. H. Mason, and was 

 introduced by them to the Cambridge Botanic Garden, 

 where a plant flowered in May, 1913, afterwards pro- 

 ducing leaves which became fully developed in July. 

 From material communicated by Mr. R. I. Lynch, the 

 figure here given of the flowers and leaves has been 

 prepared. The sketch of the bulb and base of the scape 

 has been reduced from an original field-drawing by 

 Miss Mason. Tne opportunity of examining living 



OCTOBBB, l'J16. 



