494 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. 



strongest vegetable fibres known. Many are the ornaments of our 

 gardens and conservatories. 



950. Ord. MelanthaceSB (Colchicum Family). Herbs, with bulbs, 

 •corms, or fasciculated roots. Perianth regulai', in a double series ; 

 the sepals and petals either distinct, or uuited below into a tube. 

 Stamens six, with extrorse anthers (except in Tofieldia and Pleea). 

 Ovary free, three-celled, several-seeded ; styles distinct, Albumes, 

 fleshy. The true Melanthaceas, or 



951. Subord. H^flailtllieffi have a mostly septicidal capsule and a 

 marcescent or j)ersistent perianth. — Fx. Colchicum has a perianth 

 with a long tube, arising from a subteri-anean ovary ; it is also re- 

 markable for flowering in the autumn, when it is leafless, ripening 

 its fruit and producing its leaves the following spring. Li most of 

 the order, the leaves of the perianth are uncombined ; as in Vera- 

 trum (White Hellebore), Helonias,, &c. Acrid and drastic i:)oison- 

 ous plants, with more or less narcotic qualities ; chiefly due to a 

 peculiar alkaloid principle, named Veratria, which is largely ex- 



TIG. 1247. Erythronium Americanum (Dog-tooth Violet, Adder's-tongue). 1248. The 

 bulb. 1249. Perianth laid open, with the stamens. 1250. The Pistil. 1251. Cross-section 

 of the capsule. 



