146 THE FLORA OF THE ALPS 



3.* Gladiolus, L. 



Flowers in a unilateral spike, somewhat irregular; 

 sepals and petals 3 each, all coloured, combined into a 

 short tube ; stigmas 3, broad, undivided. 



G. segetum, Gawl. ; flowers numerous, purple, stem 

 18-30 in., anthers longer than the filaments; cultivated 

 land ; Geneva, Lugano. G. co^nmunisy L. (including illy- 

 ricus, Koch); flowers 5-10, stem 12-24 ii^-> anthers 

 shorter than the filaments ; Canton-de-Vaud, Pyrenees. 

 G. imbricatus, L. ; very similar, but flowers more nume- 

 rous, more crowded ; Ticino. G. palustris^ Gaud. ; spikes 

 few- (2-5) flowered ; anthers shorter than the filaments ; 

 corm enveloped in a fibrous tissue; damp meadows; 

 Switzerland (rare), Tirol, Lombardy, Salzburg. 



Order LXXXVIL— AMARYLLIDE^. 



Flowers usually regular, solitary or few on a leafless 

 scape; sepals and petals conspicuous, coloured, often 

 united at the base, and with a crown at the mouth of the 

 tube; stamens 6; stigmas 1-3; ovary inferior, 3-celled ; 

 seed-vessel usually a 3-celled capsule; leaves radical, 

 springing from a bulb. A large order, belonging chiefly 

 to the warmer Temperate and Tropical Zones; no truly 

 alpine species. 



I. Narcissus, L. 



Flowers solitary or in umbels, large, yellow or white, 

 enclosed in a brown membranous spathe ; sepals and 

 petals united below into a tube, the mouth of which is 

 surmounted by a circular crown. 



