of certain Genera in the Flora Peruviaim. 2S5 



There is, I think, much reason for believing this to be the 

 second kind of the Ytzcuimpatli referred to by Hernandez, 

 ' for it can scarcely be the same with his first sort, if the figure 

 and description of the leaves can be relied on. Whether this 

 last is identical with the plant figured by Descourtilz, or which 

 of them is actually the Cevadilla of Monardes, are questions 

 which I have not materials to decide. 



As all the plants of this family possess nearly the same pro- 

 perties, it is not improbable that different species have been ap- 

 plied in different countries to the like purpose. The Sabadilla 

 or Cevadilla formerly held an important place in the Pharma- 

 copoeia, but happily the progressive habits of cleanliness in the 

 people has rendered it now no longer necessary. 



XIPHIDIUM, Lcejl, 



Syst. Limu TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIvE. 

 Ord. Nat. HiEMADORACE/E, Br. 



Perianthium 6-phyllum ; foliolis 3 interioribtts paullo majoribus. Stamina 3, 

 * his opposita ; ^^r^io majore, filamento triplo latiore, complanato. Anthercs 

 anticae, biloculares, erectse : loculis distinctis parallelis, satura longitudi- 

 nali dehiscentibus. Ovarium sjlobosum, 3-loculare, oniniiib liberum : 

 ovulis iiumerosis, peltatis, processibus placentae adnatis. Stylus indivi- 

 sus. Stigma simplex, truncatum, papillosum. Bacca sphaerica, 3-locula- 

 ris : loculis polyspermis. Dissepimenta simplicia, membranacea. Pla- 

 cetitcB 3, angulo loculorum interiori insertse, crassae, succulentae, processi- 

 bus elevatis undique tuberculatae. Semina depresso-angulata, apice 

 disco dilatato concaviusculo : testa cartilaginea : albumen farinaceum, 

 niveum. Embryo minutus. 



Herbae (Amer. Mend.) Veratri facie. Radix fibrosa^ repens. Folia altema, 

 ensiformia, striato-nervosa^ equitantia. Flores terminales, paniculati, parvi. 

 Bracteolae scariosce, brevissima. Bacca violacea. 



1. X. rubrum, foliis erectis margine denticulatis, paniculd racemosS, peri- 

 anthii foliolis ovato-oblongis obtusis, aiitheris ovalibus. 



Ornithogalum rubrum. Ruiz et Pavon MSS. 



Hab. in Peru via. Ruiz et Pavon, 11 . (V. s. sp. in Herb. Lamb.) 



Notwithstanding its free ovarium, this genus evidently be- 

 longs to the Hcemodoracea, to which it had been doubtfully re- 

 ferred by the distinguished author of the Prodromus Flone 

 Nov(B HollandicB, to whom the structure of its fruit appears to 

 have been then unknown. The ovarium is also free in ^VacJien- 

 d(rrfia, so that even among Monocotyledonous plants this charac- 

 ter is not of primary value. ; -. 



