384 



LILIACEAE 



Diagram of Convallaria 

 (after Eichler). 



cymose form, especially that of a bostryx, as in Hemerocallis. The 

 apparent umbels or heads of Allium, Agapanthus, &c. are really 

 cymose. Sol. term. fls. occur in tulip, &c. Fls. usu. , reg., penta- 

 cyclic, 3-merous (rarely 2, 4, or 5), hypog. P 3 + 3, free or united, 

 petaloid or sometimes sepaloid; A 3 + 3 or fewer, rarely more, usu- 

 ally with introrse anthers; G (3) usu. 

 sup., rarely inf. or semi-inf., 3-loc. with 

 axile, or rarely i-loc. with parietal plac.; 

 ovules usu. oo , in two rows in each loc., 

 anatr. Fr. usu. capsular, loculic. or 

 septic., sometimes a berry. Seed with 

 straight or curved embryo, in abundant 

 fleshy or cartilaginous, never floury, 

 endosp. 



Fls. usu. insect-pollinated. Honey 

 in Scilla, Allium, &c., is secreted by 

 glands in the ovary- wall between the 

 cpls.; in other cases by glands on the 

 bases of the perianth-1. (see Muller's 

 Pert, of Fls. ). Yucca (q. v. ) has a 

 unique pollination-method. 



Economically the L. are of no great 

 value. The chief food plants are Alli- 

 um and Asparagus ; Phormium, Yucca, 

 and Sansevieria yield useful fibre ; Smilax, Urginea, Aloe, Colchicum, 

 Veratrum, &c., are medicinal. Xanthorrhoea and Dracaena yield 

 resins ; Chlorogalum is used as soap. Many are favourite garden and 

 greenhouse plants, e.g. Convallaria, Tulipa, Fritillaria, Lilium, 

 Agapanthus, Kniphofia, Funkia, Hyacinthus, Gloriosa, and many 

 more. 



Classification and chief genera (after Engler): the L. are closely 

 allied to Juncaceae; usu. they can be distinguished by their petaloid 

 P, but many L. have a sepaloid P, e.g. Xanthorrhoea, Kingia, &c., 

 and in these cases almost the only distinction is the absence in L. of 

 the long thread-like twisted stigmas of J. BH. unite these genera, 

 and some others, to Juncaceae, and place sub-fams. vin and ix in 

 Haemodoraceae. Warming splits up the family into Colchicaceae, 

 Liliaceae, and Convallariaceae. 



I. MELANTHI01DEAE (rhiz., or bulb covered with scale-1. 

 and with term, infl.; anthers extr. or intr.; caps, loculic. or septic.; 

 fr. never a berry): Tofieldia, Narthecium, Veratrum, Gloriosa, Col- 

 chicum. 



II. HRRRERIOIDEAE (tuber, with climbing stem; 1. in 

 tufts ; small-flowered racemes at base of these or in panicles at ends 

 of twigs; septic, caps.) : Herreria (only genus). 



III. ASPHODELO1DEAE (rhiz. with radical 1., rarely stem 

 with crown of 1. or leafy branched stem or bulb; infl. usu. term., a 

 simple or cpd. raceme or spike; P or (P); anthers intr.; caps., rarely 

 berry): Asphodelus, Chlorogalum, Bowiea, Funkia, Hemerocallis, 

 Phormium, Kniphofia, Aloe, Gasteria, Haworthia, Aphyllanthes, 

 Lomandra, Xanthorrhoea, Kingia. 



