34 



* BESSERA elegans. 

 Elegant Bessera. 



MONADELPHIA HEXANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Liliace^. 



BESSERA. Schultesjil. Umbella. Perianthium pendulum, campanu- 

 latum, hexapetaloideum, asquale. Stamina basi In urceolum epipetalum con- 

 nata, aequalia, regularia, exserta. Ovarium sessile, locuHs polyspermis; ovulis 

 aseendentibus ; s/i^??m obsolete trilobum, pubescens. {^Capsuln erecta, perian- 

 thio stipata, septicido-trivalvis. Setnina compressa, testa membranacea atra.] 



B. elegans ; urceolo stamineo inter stamina unidentato, filamentis pubescentibus 

 styli longitudine. 



This charming plant was originally found by Count 

 Karwinsky at Saltepec in Mexico ; it was first sent to this 

 country by John Parkinson, Esq. H. B. M.'s Consul in 

 Mexico, and from a specimen in the possession of John 

 Rogers, Esq. Jun. of Sevenoaks, the accompanying drawing 

 was made. Recently a large packet of what is believed to 

 be it has been received by the Horticultural Society from 

 Mr. Hartweg. 



A second species has already been published by Mr. Her- 

 bert in this work in the year 1832, under the name of Pharium 

 fistulosum (fol. 1546), but the latter generic name must give 

 way to that of Bessera, which dates from January, 1829. 

 Mr. Herbert's species apparently differs not only in the 

 colour of the flowers, but in having the staminal cup un- 

 toothed, the filaments smooth, and the style longer than the 

 stamens. 



I did not see the leaves of this species ; Mr. Rogers de- 

 scribes them to me as two, two feet long, cylindrical with a 



* So named after Dr. Besser, Professor of Botany at Brody, and author of 

 an enumeration of the plants Volhynia, Podolia, &c. 

 Jum, 1839. N 



