MN. 
PEO a Te Ey Re aR wb S| Oe ee 
Wurmbea.] LILIACEE (Baker) ; 521 
XLII. WURMBEA, Thunb. 
Perianth gamophyllous, persistent; tube campanulate or cylin- 
drical ; segments linear or lanceolate, equal, patent, with two 
glandular foveoles above the base. Stamens 6, inserted at the base 
of the perianth-segments ; filaments short, filiform ; anthers oblong, 
versatile, introrsely affixed, dehiscing extrorsely near the margin. 
Ovary sessile, trilocular, 3-lobed at the apex ; ovules many, super- 
posed ; styles short, subulate, divaricate; stigma small, capitate. 
Capsule globose, septicidally 3-valved. Seeds subglobose ; testa thin, 
brown, depressed ; albumen firm, 
Rootstock a tunicated corm ; stem simple, with few superposed narrow le 
of moderately firm texture; inflorescence spicate, without bracts, 
Disrris. Also Australian and Tropical African. 
Tube distinct, campanulate or cylindrical __... ie ... (1) capensis. 
Tube very short ,,. ate a, Pie “ie ae +. (2) Kraussii. 
1. W. capensis (Thunb. Nov. Gen. Pl. i. 18, with pl.) ; corm small, 
ovoid ; underground neck 2-8 in. long; stem 3—1 ft. long including 
the spike ; produced leaves 3-4, lanceolate or linear, acuminate 
3-9 in. long, channelled down the face and clasping the stem at the 
base, the upper shorter with a dilated base ; spike few- or many- 
flowered, lax or dense, 14 in. long; perianth 4-3 in, long; tube 
campanulate; segments lanceolate, acute, whitish, longer than the 
tube, with two distinct black glands on the face a short distance above 
the base ; filaments 3—2 in. long; earpels narrowed gradually into faleate 
styles 2 in. long. W. campanulata, Willd, Sp. Pl. ii, 265; Lam. 
Ill. t. 270; Ait. Hort. Kew. edit. 2, ii. 8325; Kunth, Enum. iv.'159 ; 
Baker in Journ. Linn, Soc. xvii. 435. Melanthium monopetalum, 
Linn. fil. Suppl. 213 ; Bot. Mag. t. 1291. M. spicatum, N. L. Burm. 
fil. Cap. Prod. 11. M. wurmbeum, Thunb. Prodr. 67; Fl. Cap. edit. 
Schult. 338, M. remotum, Ker in Bot. Mag. sub t. 694; Kunth, 
Enum. iv. 162 (a lax, few-flowered form). Wurmbea remota, Herb. 
Banks. ex Ker loc. cit. 
Var. a, purpurea (Baker); flowers dark purplish-black ; segments much 
longer than the campanulate tube. W. campanulata, Willd. var. purpurea, 
Kunth, Enum. iv. 160. W. purpurea, Dryand. in Ait. Hort. Kew. edit. 2, 
ii. 826. W. capensis, Andr. Bot. Rep. t, 421. Melanthium spicatum, Ker in 
Bot. Mag. t. 694. M. revolutum, Ker in Bot. Mag. sud t.694 (form with 
recurved linear segments). 
Var. 8, marginata (Haker) ; segments pale, with a distinct black edge, longer 
than the campanulate tube. W. campanulata, Willd. var. marginata, Kunth, 
iv, 160. Melanthium marginatum, Desv. in Lam. Encyc. iv. 29. 
VaR, y, truncata (Baker); perianth-tube broadly cyathiform ; segments linear, 
pale with a blackish edge, about as long as the tube. W. truncata, Schlecht, in 
Linnza, i. 93; Kunth, Enum. iv. 161. : : 
Van. 8, longiflora (Baker); more robust than the type; perianth-tube cylin- 
drical, as long as or longer than the faleate lanceolate segments. W. longiflora, 
Willd. Sp. Plant, ii, 266; Schlecht, in Linnea, i, 94; Kunth, Enum, iv, 161. 
Melanthium tubijlorum, Soland. MSS. : 
Var. ¢, inusta (Baker); a dwarf form, with brown perianth-segments not 
more than hulf as long as the cylindrical tube, Melanthium inustum, Soland. ex 
Kunth, Enum, iv. 161. 
