Karcissus.] AMARYLLIDE.E. 



283 



Squill, and it has been employed as a substitute for the famous Gout- 

 medicine, commonly called Eau medicinale. It seldom produces seed 

 in this country. 



Ord. 83. AMAKYLLIDEiE. Br. Amaryllis Family. 



Perianth of six divisions, regular, with an imbricated aestiva- 

 tion, the three outer segments overlapping the inner. Stamens 

 six, inserted at the bottom of the segments of the perianth ; 

 filaments sometimes combined at the base ; anthers opening in- 

 wards. Ovary 3-celled, with the cells many-seeded ; sometimes 

 (in the baccate fruits) one to two-seeded : style one : stigma 3- 

 iobed. Pericarp either a 3-celled, 3-valved, many-seeded cap- 

 sule, with the valves bearing the dissepiment in the middle, or 

 sometimes a 1 — 3-seeded berry. Seeds with a testa, which is 

 neither black, nor crustaceous. Albumen fleshy. Embryo 

 nearly straight : radicle directed to the hilum. — Bulbous or 

 Jibrous-rooted plants, chiefly of warm countries. 



1. Galanthus. Linn. Snowdrop. 



Perianth petaloid, of six pieces, the three outer spreading, three 

 inner smaller, erect, emarginate. Flowers from a sjxitha. — 

 Name from ryaXa, milk, and avOos, a floiver. 



Hexandria. Monogynia. 



1. G. nivalis, Linn. Snowdrop. Br. Fl. 1. p. 151. E. Fl. 

 v. ii.p. 129. E. Bot. t. 19. 



Woods, orchards, and lawns, scarcely indigenous. Fl. Feb. If. — 

 Bulb ovate. Leaves two, broadly linear, glaucous-green. Flowers 

 solitary, drooping, handsome, rendering this plant a general favourite. 



2. Narcissus. Linn. Daffodil. 



Perianth superior, coloured, funnel-shaped, with a spreading 6- 

 parted limb, and a campanulate or cup-shaped crown or nec- 

 tary, within which are the stamens. Flowers from a spatha. 

 — Name from vapK-r], stupor, in allusion to the powerful and 

 injurious smell of its flowers. More immediately derivable 

 from the youth Narcissus, who was fabled to be changed into 

 this flower. An inhabitant sometimes of watery places by 

 the banks of streams. Hexandria. Monogynia. 



1. N. Psuedo-narcissus, Linn. Common Daffodil. Spatha 

 single-flowered ; nectary campanulate, erect, crisped at the 

 margin, obsoletely 6-cleft, as long as the ovate segments of the 

 perianth. Br. Fl. 1. p. 152. E. Fl. v. ii. p. 132. E. Bot. 

 t. 17. 



