1535 



TRICHOPETALUM* gracile. 

 Slender Trichopetalum. 



HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Nat. ord. Asphodele;e Juss. {Introduction to the natural system of 

 Botany, p. 273.) 



TRICHOPETALUM. — Calyx herbaceus recurvus. Petala extus 

 herbacea, intus colorata, margine barbata, fere ex eadem serie cum sepalis 

 originem ducentia, recurva. Stamina 6, ?equa\ia.,fllamentis glabris, antheris 

 linearibus innatis. Ovarium 3-gonum, 3-loculare, polyspermum. Stylus 

 simplex. Stigma : punctum triangulare. Capsula oblonga, nuda, 3-locu- 

 laris, polysperma, apice loculicido-trivalvis ; pericarpio chartaceo. Semina 

 reniformia, compressa ; testa nigra, embryone circa albumen subcorneum 



arcuato. Herbse Chilenses, radicibus fasciculatis, caulibus annuis, tereti- 



bus, floribus albis, subsolitariis, racemosis v. spicatim paniculatis. 



T. gracile ; caule paniculato, petalis sepalisque revolutis, floribus nutantibus. 

 ? Anthericum plumosum. Ruiz et Pavon fl. Peruv. v. 3. t. 300. f. 6. 



Romer et Schultes syst. veg. 7. 481. 



Radix fasciculatus, carnosus. Caules subramosi, glauci, striati, in solo 

 pingui {undd exemplar quod icon, nostrum prcebuit) 3-pedales. Folia glauca, 

 lineari-ensiformia, canalicidata, debilia, glaberrima ; superioribus sensim 

 minoribus, demilm sub summis floribus depauperatis inbracteas membranaceas 

 mutatis. Flores albo-virides, inconspicui, nutantes. Sepala et petala in 

 eadem serie, basibus levissime connata, subcequalia, lineari-oblonga, obtusa, 

 striata. Pili marginis duplici serie inserti, crassi, scabri, brevi-articulati. 

 Semina duplb majora quiim in T. stellate 



Found by M'Rae near the baths of Colina, in Chile, 

 and by him sent to the Horticultural Society, in whose 

 Garden it has been cultivated several years. In a starved 

 or unhealthy state it is a dwarf few-flowered plant, scarcely 

 exceeding a span in height ; but planted in rich soil, and 

 under good cultivation, it rises to the height of full 3 feet, 

 flowering and seeding abundantly from June to August. 



* From %|, T£ix,os, hair, and 5rsr«Aox, a petal ; in allusion to the fringes 

 of the inner series of the perianthium. 



