225 



A MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS fiRTHYLLIS. 



By J. G. Baker, F.R.S. 



(Plates 259, 260.) 



The Massonian drawings of GethilUs, which I have just had the 

 pleasure of studying at the British Museum, add very materially to 

 our knowledge of the genus. So far as I am personally concerned 

 their discovery at this present juncture is most timely and satis- 

 factory, as I have been busily engaged this winter in working out 

 the Amaryllidacefe for my colleague Mr. Thiselton Dyer's con- 

 tinuation of Harvey and Sonder's ' Flora Capensis.' The genus is 

 very poorly represented in the London herbaria, and but little 

 better in that of Thuuberg, of which, through the kindness of the 

 authorities of the Museum at Upsala, I had the loan some time 

 ago. The flowers are very fugitive, and, as they appear at a 

 different time of year from the leaves, it is a task of much doubt and 

 difficulty to sort out properly the dried specimens. As this series 

 of drawings by Masson contains full sketches of seven out of nine 

 species, two of them entirely unknown before and two others 

 described from the leaves alone, it advances our knowledge of the 

 genus very considerably. 



Key to the Species. 

 Stamens six. 



Style falling short of the tip of the perianth-segments. 



Leaves glabrous, spirally twisted from the base upwards. 



1. G. spiralis. 

 Leaves glabrous, rolled back spirally towards the tip. 



2. G. verticillata. 

 Leaves densely hispid . . . d. G. villosa. 



Style exserted and declinate . . . 4. 6^. longistyla. 

 Stamens numerous. 



Leaves linear, glabrous, spirally twisted. 



Stamens 9-12 5. G. afra. 



Stamens in 6 bundles, several in each bundle. 



6. G.Britteniana. 



Leaves linear, hairy . . . . 1 . G. ciliaris. 



Leaves lanceolate, very much crisped . 8. G. undulata. 



Leaves lorate, glabrous, twisted , . 9. 6^. latifolia. 



1. G. SPIRALIS Linn. fil. Suppl. 198.* — Bulb globose, 1-1^ in- 

 diam. ; tunics produced 1-2 in. above its apex. Leaves 4-6, pro- 

 duced after the flowers, linear-subulate, glabrous, spirally twisted 

 from the base upwards, 4-6 in. long. Perianth-tube 2-3 in. long ; 

 limb l-li in. long, Avhitish, tinted red on the outside ; segments 

 oblong-lanceolate, ^^-^ in. broad at the middle. Stamens 6, about 

 i in. long ; filament equalling the anther. Style straight, rather 



* [The three species of Linn. fil. in Suppl. were also published by Thunberg 

 in the same year (Nov. Gen. 14). — Ed. Journ. Box.] 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 23. [Aug., 1885.] q 



