Agave. CXLVII. AMARYLLIDACE^. 539 



2. NARCISSUS. 

 Gr. vapKr], stupor; from the effects produced by the smell of some of the species which are poisonous. 



Perianth regular ; corona monophyllous, funnel-form, consisting of 

 a whorl of united sterile stamens, within which the fertile ones are 

 inserted. 



06s.— A well known, popular genus, whose species are easily cultivated, many of them very fragrant 

 and beautiful. They have bulbous roots, ensiform leaves, and usually yellow flowers, with a long, com- 

 y pressed spathe, opening on one side, and deciduous. 

 ^'^- 1. N. JoNauiLLA. — Scape 1 — 3-flowered; segments reflexed, spatulate; cup 

 (corona) much shorter than the segments, saucer-shaped, spreading, crenate. — 

 Native of Spain. Scape a foot high, round, slender, bearing at the sumxait a 

 few flowers of a rich yellow, and very fragrant. May, Jn. 



2. N. POETicus. Poet's Narcissus. — Scape 1-flowered ; segments imbricate at 

 base, reflexed ; corona expanded, flat, rotate, crenulate ; 3 anth. shorter than the 

 tube. — Native of S. Europe. Scape about a foot high, leaves of the same 

 length. It bears a single flower, which is mostly white, but having the crown 

 singularly adorned with circles of crimson, white and yellow. Jn. 



3. N. Pseudo-Narcissus. Daffodil. — Scape- 2-edged, straight, striated ; seg- 

 ments sulphur color ; corona with a serrate-crenate orifice. — Native of England. 

 Root bulbous. Leaves linear, a foot long, striate, veined. Scape a foot high, 

 bearing at the top a single, very large flower, with a very long cup or corona. 

 April, May. 



4. N. Tazetta. — Spathe many-flowered ; corona campanulate, truncate, shorter 

 than the petals ; Irs. flat. — Native of Spain. Root a large bulb. Leaves smooth, 

 svrord-shaped. Scape naked, striate, a foot high, with 10 — 12 flowers. Corolla 

 white, cup a strong yellow, not fragrant. April, May. 



3. GALANTHUS. 



Gr. yaXa, milk, av^oi ; on account of the delicate whiteness of the flower. 



Flowers spathaceous ; sepals 3, concave ; corona formed of 3 small, 

 emarginate segments ; stigma simple. — Ornamental, bulbous exotics. 



G. NIVALIS. Snow-drop. — Lis. linear, radical, keeled, acute ; scape l-flowered. 

 — ^Native of the Alps, well known in gardens, flowering early in Spring. It is 

 a small plant, half a foot high, arising from a perennial bulb, bearing a single, 

 large, nodding flower white as snow. Stem usually furnished with 2 long, nar- 

 row leaves towards the top. 



4. AGAVE. 



Gr. ayavof, admirable; a term eminently applicable. 



Perianth tuhular, funnel-form, adherent to the ovary, 6-parted ; sta- 

 mens 6, exserted ; anthers versatile ; capsule ovate, attenuate at each 

 end, obtusely triangular, 3-celled, many-seeded. — A splendid Ameri- 

 can genus. Root sometivies ligneous. Stem herbaceous. Lvs. mostly 

 radical., rigid., channeled., often spiny. Panicle large, pyramidal. 



1. A. ViRGiNiCA. False Aloe. 



Acaulescent, herbaceous; lvs. linear-lanceolate, fleshy, glabrous, with car- 

 tilaginous serratures on the margin ; scape simple, glabrous, with leaf-like scales 

 and sessile flowers. — Rocky banks, Penn. to Ga. Root premor.se, tuberous. 

 Scape 6f high, terete, glabrous, loosely spicate above. Radical leaves long, 

 acute. Flowers greenish-yellow, very fragrant, tube longer than the acute seg- 

 ments. Capsule roundish, obscurely 3-angled, 3-furrowed, 3-valved, 3-celled. Sept. 

 2. A. Americana. American Aloe. Century Plant. — Acaulescent; lvs. spi- 

 nose-dcntate, lanceolate, coriaceous and fleshy ; scape branched, lofty and arbo- 

 rescent ; cor. tube contracted in the middle ; pedicel as long as the corolla. — The 

 largest of all herbaceous plants, native of tropical America, often cultivated. 

 It is a popular notion that it flowers but once in a hundred years, but it is known 

 to flower much oftener, according to the culture it receives. Leaves radical, 

 thick, 3— G or 8f long, 4 — 12' wide. The scape arises from the centre of the 



