198 



MELANTHACE^. 



[Endogens. 



Order LXl. MELANTHACEiE— Melanths. 



Melantheae, Bat^h. Tab. Aff. (1802).— Colchicaceae, Dec. Fl. Fr. 3. 192. (1815) ; Ess. MM.29S. (1816) ; 

 Bartl. Ord. ]\"at. 51. (1830h— Melanthaceae, R. Brown, Prodr. 272. (1810) ; Endl. Gen. liii. Meis- 

 ncr, Gen. p. 404. Kituth. Enum. 4. 136. A. Gray, Lyceum, N. York, vol. 4. (1837). — Vei-atreffi, Salish. 

 in Hort. Trans. 1. 328. (1812) ; Agardh Aphor. 166. (1823).— Merenderas, Mirb. according to Be 

 CrtndoWf.— Anguillaieae, Don. in Linn. Tra>is. 18. 513. 



Diagnosis. — lAlial Endogens with a naked perianth, flat ivJien iviiherin(i, aydhers turned 

 outwards, distinct styles, and fleshy albumen. 



Bulbous, tuberous, or fibrous-rooted plants, extremely variable in appearance ; in the 

 Colchicete stemless, with the flowers half subterranean like a Crocus ; in the Veratreae, 

 with spiked, racemose, panicled, branching, or simple herbaceous stems. Flowers not 



unfrequently $ § ^ , white, green, or 

 purple. Calyx and corolla both alike, 

 free, petaloid, in 6 pieces, or, in conse- 

 quence of the cohesion of the claws, 

 / tubular ; the pieces generally involute 

 / in aestivation. Stamens 6 ; anthers 

 tm-ned outwards. Ovary 3-celled, 

 many-seeded ; style 3-parted ; stigmas 



/undivided ; [o\'ules orthotropal, semi- 

 campylotropal, semi-anatropal or ana- 

 ^ tropal, EndL] Capsule generally divi- 

 sible into 3 pieces ; sometimes with a 

 locuhcidal dehiscence. Seeds with a 

 membranous testa ; albumen dense, 

 fleshy or cartilaginous ; embryo very 

 minute, inclosed, extremely uncei'tain 

 in its position. 



The plants of this Order have in some 

 cases the appearance of Crocuses, in 

 others that of small Lilies. Brown 

 considers its station to be between 

 Lilyworts and Rushes, from both which 

 it is known by its tripartible fruit, 

 and anthers turned outwards. The 

 latter character gives the Melanths 

 their distinctive charac- 

 ter, more than anything 

 else, and, combined with 

 their separable carpels, 

 ,i,\^„y generally renders then' 

 ( Vv/ V identification free from 

 difficulty. Don has 

 well observed that " the 

 genus Colchicum esta- 

 blishes an e\ndent rela- 

 Amaryllids, and Irids ; 



Fig, CXXXIV. 



Fig CXXXV 



tionship, through Sternbergia and Crocus, between Melanths, 



Disporum joins them to Smilacese, and Tofieldia to Rushes, while a comparison 



of the structure of XJ-v-ularia and Erythrouium fully makes out their ^affinity with 



Liliaceee." 



Frequent at the Cape of Good Hope, not uncommon in Europe, Asia, and North 

 America, and existing within the tropics of India and New Holland, this Order appears to 

 be confined within no geogi'aphical hmits ; it is, however, far more abundant in north- 

 ern comi tries than elsewhere. 



Few Orders of plants are more universally poisonous than this, whose quahties are 

 conspicuously mdicated by Colchicum and Veratrum. The corm and seeds of the 



Fig. CXXXIV.— Colchicum autunmale. 1. A corm in flower ; 2. The same stripped of its outer coats, 

 and showing the ovaries after the floral envelopes are cut away ; 3. a transverse section of the ovaries ; 

 4. a ripe capsule ; 5. a section of a seed ; 6. the flower cut open, to show the stamens and the 3 parted 

 style. ^ 



Fig. CXXXV.— Section of the centre of the flower of Veratrum nigrum 



