NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 173 



DICHELOSTEMMA, Kunth. (Ai;t»Aoc, bifid, cn-j/^^-t*, crown.) 



Perianth 6-parted, limb erect or spreading ; fil. 6, dilated, perigynous, the 3 

 outer exserted, petaloid, 2-parted either with or without an anther between 

 the lobes, the 3 inner wholly adnate, antheriferous, rarely appendaged ; anthers 

 bifid at each end ; ovary 3-celled, cells 3 — 5-ovuled ; seeds few or many, 

 black. — Bulb or corm globous. Leaves linear, flat. Scape tall, wiry, bearing 

 a dense umbel of flowers. Spathe of 3 or 4 broad bracts. 



^ Only the three outer filaments appendaged. Flowers violet-blue. 



D. ooNGESTA Kunth. Leaves 1 — 2, narrowly linear ; scape flexuous, erect 

 (2 f.) ; flowers subsessile, in a globulai" umbel, tube tumid at base, contracted 

 above the globular ovary ; anthers 3 ; pedicels roundish ; seeds angular, 5 in 

 each cell. — Oregon and N. California, common. Flowers 'd" long, about a 

 dozen in each umbel. March — May. [Brodixa congesta, Smith.) 



D. CAPiTATA Benth.? Leaves broad-linear, glaucous ; scape straight, erect 

 (2 f.) : flowers subsessile, few (5 — 9), compact, broad at base, not contracted 

 above ; anthers 6 ; pod ovoid, with 9 elliptical seeds. — San Diego to Yreka ; 

 often seen with the other, readily distinguished at sight. The seeds are thrice 

 larger than in the preceding. The bulbs of both are largely eaten by the 

 Digger Indians. February — April. 



^ StrophoUrion, Torr. Filaments all appendaged ; the lobes of the antherife- 

 rous much shorter than those of the sterile. 



D. Californica. Leaves long, linear ; scape terete, twining on anything in 

 reach, 5 — 10 f. ! Umbels capitate, with 4 or 5 bracts ; flowers tubular-bell- 

 form, rose-purple, somewhat constricted above the ovary, articulated to the 

 pedicels ; cells 4-ovuled, 1-seeded ; seed oblong, black. Common in the foot 

 hills, Marin, Yuba and Placer counties. May. {^Stropholirion californicum, 

 Torrey, in P. R. R. Rep. iv. 149.) 



BREVOORTIA, Wood. Proc. Phila. Ac. N. Sci., June, 1867. 

 (Dedicated to J. Carson Brevoort, Esq.. Reg. N. Y. Univ.) 



Perianth tubular-pyriform (scarlet red), persistent, limb 6-toothed, reflexed, 

 crown erect, of 3 broad truncate scales ; stamens 3, fil. adnate, anthers free, 

 exserted, opposite the inner segments (teeth), alternate with the scales of the 

 crown, deeply bifid at base ; ovary ovoid, 3-celled ; cells 4-ovuled, stj-le slender ; 

 capsule? — Bulbous? Leaves long, linear. Scape tall, erect, umbellate. 

 Spathe of 4 bracts. Flowers 8 — 12, pedicellate, nodding. 



B. Ida-Maia Wood. High hills of the Trinity Mountain Range, Shasta Co., 

 Cal. Glabrous, 2 — 4 f., leaves nearly as long, channeled. Flowers K long, 

 pedicels 1 — 2'. Singularly beautiful, the tube scarlet, lobes chrome-green, 

 crown yellow, and umbel subtended with 4 purple bracts. May, June. 



CHLOROGALUM, Kunth. [XkoopQ, green, yixa., milk.) 



Perianth of recurved-spreading segments ; stamens 6, equal, scarcely 

 perigynous, as long as the segments; anthers 2-celled, fixed by the back; 

 ovary free, sessile, cells 3, 2 — 3-ovuled ; style filiform, stigma tricuspidate. — 

 Bulb tunicated. Leaves radical, linear, carinate. Scape branching, with 

 panicled racemes. Soap Plant. 



C. POMERiDiANUM Kuutli. — California, throughout the open country. The 

 bulb is invested with a dense mass of black, hair-like fibres. Leaves broad- 

 linear, recurved, the margins undulate. Scape 2 — 3 f. high, bracted, with a 

 few spreading branches. Flowers erect, broad, white, in long loose racemes, 

 open only at mid-day in May. The bulb is alkaline and mucilaginous, answer- 

 ing well for soap. 



1868.] 



