BRODI^A GRANDIFLORA. 



LARGE-FLOWERED CALIFORNIA HYACINTH. 



NATURAL ORT1ER, IJl.IACE.K. 



Brodi.ka GRANDIFLORA, Smith. — Bulb depressed glubose, fibrous coated ; pedicels stout, 

 divaricate, then at length erect ; flowers four to eight, rarely but one; the inner segments 

 nearly twice broader than the outer, all spreadin:^ above. Sterile stamens usually longer 

 than the fertile, emarginate, yellowish. (Prof. Wood \n Proceedings of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of rhiladelphia for iS6S. See also Watson's Botany of Clarence King's 

 Exj'-cdition. 



IhERE are several species of the ^&xm^ Brodiaa, which 

 belonf^ to the Pacific coast, and have been under cultiva- 

 tion for some years. They are generally known as " California 

 Hyacinths," and although they really have not much in common 

 with the true Hyacinth, they and their neighbors of the genus 

 Lcucoryne come perhaps as near to these celebrated flowers as any 

 of the plants indigenous to the United States. One of the most 

 striking marks of distinction in these two genera of plants is to 

 be found in the inflorescence; for while that of the Hyacinths is 

 racemose or spicate, the flowers of the Brodicca are collected in 

 an umbel. This difference, however, would hardly be regarded 

 as of generic value by a systematic botanist; but a close analysis 

 will reveal differences which are much more essential. In the 

 Hyacinth, for instance, the perianth is campanulate, while in the 

 Brodicca It is mostly tubular, or funnel-shaped. The seed-vessel 

 also has peculiar characteristics in each ; but one of the most 

 striking differences is observable in the stamens, which are six 

 in the Hyacinth and only three in Brodicca. Six stamens, in- 

 deed, is the normal condition in the Liliacecc, but in Brodicca 



