279 



CCLI. LILIACEtE. The Lily Tribk. 



LiLiA, Juss. Gen. 48. (1789) Narcissi, the first sect. Ibid. 54. (1789) — Hemero- 



CALLiDEiE, li. Brown Prodr. 295. (1810) Liliace^e, Dec. Thior. Eltm. 



1. 249. (1813); Dec. and Diiby, 461. (1828) in part ; Lindl. Synops. 266. (1829).— 

 TuLirACE.?;, Dec. Ess. Mtd. 297. (1816); Dec. and Duby, 461 (1828); Link 



Handh. 1. 177. (1829) a sect, o/ Liliaceae Coronari^, Agardh Aphor. 165. 



(1823.) 



Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous monocotyledons, with a superior ova- 

 rium, highly developed perianthium, anthers turned inwards, a trilocular 

 polyspermous capsule, and seeds with a soft spongy coat. 



Anomalies. 



Essential Character. — Calyx and corolla confounded, coloured, reg;iilar, occa- 

 sionally cohering in a tube. Stamens 6, inserted into the sepals and petals. Ovary supe- 

 rior, 3-celled, many-seeded ; style 1 ; stigma simple, or 3-lobed. Fruit dry, capsular, 3- 

 celled, many-seeded, with a loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds flat, packed one upon another in 

 1 or 2 rows, with a spongy, dilated, often winged integument ; embryo with the same 

 direction as the seed, in the axis of fleshy albumen, — Bnlbs scaly, or stems arborescent. 

 Leaves with parallel veins, either lanceolate or cordate. Flowers large, usually with 

 bright colours, often solitary. 



Affinities. Distinguishable from Asphodelese by their higher degree 

 of developement, and by the texture of the coat of their seeds. Various 

 degrees of cohesion between their sepals and petals occur, so that we have 

 tubulai- perianths and revolute ones even in the same genus (Lilium). Hence 

 Mr. Brown's Hemerocallidese, which he states differ from Liliaceae in almost 

 nothing but their tubular perianth, cannot be retained. Decandolle refers 

 Erythronium to Asphodelese in the Botanicon Gallicum ; in the Flore Fran- 

 caise he placed it in Melanthaceee ; but it surely ought to be stationed 

 here. 



Geography. The temperate parts of America, Europe, and Asia, are 

 the favourite resort of this tribe, which stretches towards equinoctial coun- 

 tries upon the mountains of Mexico in the form of Calochortus, and in New 

 Holland in the shape of Blandfordia. 



Pkoperties. Chiefly remarkable for their large richly coloured flowers. 

 The bulbs of Lilium pomponium are roasted and eaten in Kamtschatka, 

 where it is as commonly cultivated as the potato with us. Gard. Mug. 

 6. 322. The roots of Erythronium indicum are employed in India in cases 

 of strangury and fever in horses. Ainslie, I. 403. Polianthes tuberosa, 

 or the Tuberose, is well known for its delicious fragrance. This plant emits 

 its scent most strongly after sunset, and has been observed in a sultry even- 

 ing, after thunder, when the atmosphere was highly charged with electric 

 fluid, to dart small sparks, or scintillations of lucid flame, in great abundance 

 from such of its flowers as were fading. Ed. P. J. 3. 415. 



Examples. Lilium, Fritiilaria, Hemerocallis, Funkia. 



CCLIL PALM^. The Palm Tribe. 



Palm/E, Juss. Gen. (1789) ; R. Brown Prodr. 26G. (1810); Von Martins Palm. Braz. 

 (1824) ; Id. Proyramma (1824.) 



Diagnosis. Hexapetaloideous arborescent monocotyledons, with rigid 

 divided leaves, a superior 3-celled ovarium, and an embryo lying in cartila- 

 ginous or fleshy albumen at a distance from the hilum. 



Anomalies. 



