152 



H^MODORACE^. 



[Endogens. 



by the number of their stamens, and by their anthers turaing inwards, or, if their 

 stamens are reduced to three, then, by those organs beuag opposite the petals ; and by 

 then- simple stigma. Dr. Herbert mchides all the hexandrous genera in Amarylhds ; 

 and limits the Order to those having 3 stamens and an adherent ovary ; but, although 

 it may be very difficult to express in satisfactory language the exact differences between 

 the Blood-roots and AmaryUids, yet I think there can be no doiibt of their real distinct- 

 ness, and that the diagnosis now assigned to them does sufficiently characterize them. 

 In Brazil, Southern Guiana, and also in the Mascaren islands, there occurs a race of 

 these plants which may bo compared to the Conestyles of New Holland on a gigantic 

 scale. Martius, who calls them Vellozias, describes them as perennial LiUes, with 



their tininks closely covered by the withered 

 , •', remains of leaves, brandling by forks, and 

 bearing at their points tufts of leaves in the 

 manner of a Yucca or Dracaena; some of them 

 are from 2 to 10 feet high, with a tiomk some- 

 times as thick as a man's body. I find the 

 stinictiu'e of that tmnk most curious. It con- 

 sists of a central slender subcyluidrical column, 

 which never increases in diameter after its 

 first formation, and which has the ordinary 

 monocotyledonous structiu'e. Outside of the 

 column are arranged great quantities of slen- 

 der fibrous roots, which cohere fuTialy by their 

 own cellular surface, and form a spurious 

 kind of wood, which is extremely like that of 

 some kinds of Palm wood, only it is developed 

 by constant additions to the very outside of 

 the stem. Something analogous occurs in 

 Pandanus, but it is in some tree ferns only 

 that this mode of gi'owth is exactly repeated. 

 Don proposed to make an Order of the Vel- 

 lozias ; but till theh' stmcture and that of the 

 Bloodi'oots shall have been thoroughly inves- 

 tigated this step is premature. 



As to Wachendoi'fia and its allies, with 

 triandi'ous flowers, and free ovary, Mr. Her- 

 bert looks upon it as the type of an Order 

 (Wachendoi'fiacese) quite imconnected with 

 Htemodoinim and ConostyUs, and he is possi- 

 bh' right ; but in the meanwhile, as we 

 loiow very little of these genera, it seems most expedient to dismiss them from the 

 Blood-roots and station them in reserve among the Lilies. Endlicher states that the 

 genera of this Order have the cells of the ovary opposite the petals, and this, if so, 

 would certainly be an important characteristic ; but I cannot confirm the statement : 

 it is in truth very difficult to determine such a pomt in the majority of the genera, 

 whose Sepals and petals are all apparently on the same plane. The true Heemodoracese 

 are smooth and dissimilar in habit to Conostylis and its alhes ; wherefore a couple of 

 additional sub-Orders may be conveniently admitted here, for which better characters 

 may be hereafter found. 



The species occur in North America sparingly, and the Cape of Good Hope ; several 

 are described from the more temperate parts of New Holland, and a good many Vellozias 

 and Barbacenias occur in Brazil and the jMascaren islands. A Barbacenia (Alexandrinee) 

 gi'owmg from 10 to 12 feet high has also been noticed by Sir R. Schomburgk in the 

 Southern parts of British Guiana. 



De Candolle remarks, that the red coloiir fovmd in the roots of Lachnanthes tinctoria 

 in North America, where it is used for dyeing, prevails in Hsemodorum, and deserves to 

 be studied in the rest of the Order. The natives of the Swan River five on the roots of 

 such plants, especially of Ha-modoiiim paniculatum and spicatum, and Anigozanthus 

 floridus, which are mild and nutritious when roasted, but acrid when raw. Hool: Journ. 

 2. 355. One of the most intense bitters kno^\•n is Aletris farinosa. It is used in infu- 

 sion as a tonic and stomachic, but large doses produce nausea and tendency to vomit. 

 It has also been employed in chronic rheumatism. 



Fig, C— Landscape with Vellozias ; Martins. 



