20. 



TIGRIDTA OXYPETALA. 



Sharp-petaled Tiger-flower. 



MONADELPHIA. TrIANDRIA. 



Class 1 6. Order 1 . 



TiGRiDiA : from the petals being spotted like a tiger. 



GENEKIC CHARACTER. 



Cal, Spathes one or two-flowered. Cor. Petals regularly divided into 

 six J three exterior large and ovate, three interior smaller and 

 seated round the base. Stam. Filaments three, attached, forming 

 a tube round the pistil. Anthers oblong. Pist. Germ long, three- 

 cornered. Style simple, erect. Stigmas three. Pe7\ Capsule ob- 

 long, three-cornered, three-celled, three-valved. Seeds numerous, 

 roundish. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Glaucous ; segments of the corolla ovate, acute. Style somewhat 

 longer than the anthers j divisions of the stigma clavate. 



Root bulbous, producing stems about eighteen inches high. 

 Leaves plaited, sheathing the stem at the base, sometimes longer 

 than the stem. Spathe two-leaved, compressed, containing 

 one or two flowers ; corolla formed somewhat like a cup. Tlie 

 petals are six in number, alternately large and small, and 

 are longer and more pointed than in T. pavonia, in whicli 

 the segments are cuneiform and acuminate, the style shorter 

 than the anthers, and the divisions of the stigma subulate. In 

 T. oxypetala the style rises above the anthers. 



