Tab. 7862. 



CJyNUM NATANS. ' ■• 



Native of Guinea. 



Nat. Ord. AmaryllidEvM. — Tribe Amaryllej;. 

 Genus Crinum, Linn.; {Benth. & Hooh.f. Gen. Plant, vol. iii. p. 726.) 



Crinum (Platyaster) iiatann \ herba aqiiatioa, bulbo parvo anguste ovoideo 

 estolonifero, collo elongato, foliia STibmersis loratis 4-5-pedalibus \\ poll, 

 latis apice angustatis subacutis uadulatis supra saturate subtus pallide 

 viridibus, costa crassa utiinque prominula, scipo robnsto pedali erecto 

 cotnpresso, spathse valvis 2|^-pollicaribug ovato-lanceolatia membranaceia 

 coloratis, floribus umbellatis erectis, ovario f-pollicari oblongo, corollaj 

 tubo 6-pollicari cylindraceo pallide viridi, eegmentia tubo dimidio 

 brevioribus patenti-reflexis auguste lineari-lanceolatis falcatis subacutis 

 albis, filamentis filiformibus segmentis corolla3 fere sequilongis, antheris 

 \ poll, longia anguste linearibus aureis, stjli parte exserto iilamentia 

 pauUo longiore ascendente sigmoideo, stigmate fimbriato. 



C. natans, Baker in Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. vol. vii. p. 396. 



Crinum natans, the only hitherto described species with 



submerged leaves, is very closely allied to G. piirpurascens, 



Baker, t. 6525, a native of the same region of Africa, 



and described as amphibious. G. piirpurascens differs in 



being a much smaller plant, with narrower, less undulate 



leaves, having an undefined costa, a much more slender 



scape and perianth-tube, which latter is purplish below 



the middle and yellow above it, shorter perianth-segments, 



rose-purple filaments, and green anthers. It is apparently 



a more local plant, being confined to the Bight of Biafra, 



whereas G. natans has been found in Fernando Po, where 



it was discovered by G. Mann in 1862, in the Niger Delta, 



Gold Coast, and Sierra Leone, always in gently flowing 



fresh-water streams. Sir John Kirk, who collected it in 



the Niger waters in 1895, and sent bulbs and seeds to 



the lloyal Gardens, Kew, describes it as affecting the 



margins of rivers with an average temperature of 80'' — 



82° Fahr. The bulbs which he sent in that year flowered 



in a tropical tank in September, 1900. 



Descr. — Bidh about three or more inches long, narrowly 

 ovoid, tapering into a long neck, not stoloniferous. Leaves 

 very numerous, submerged, four to five feet long by one 



>OV£MBER IsT, 1902. 



