694 Obder 140.— AMARYLLIDACEjE. 



3-fid ; seeds oo, 2 rows in each sell, black. — Bulb tunicatcd, sending tip 

 a scape with linear lvs. Spathe 1-leaved. Fls. erect, showy and beau- 

 tiful. Fig. 315. 

 Z. Atamasco Herbt. Spatho 2-cleft, acuto; flowers solitary, pediceled; cor. 



cainpanulate, suberect, with the segrn. equally spreading above; filaments much 

 exceeding the tube, but shorter than the segments. — An attractive flower, in wet 

 clay soils, Va. to Fla. Lvs. linear, a foot long. Scape round, G to 12' high. 

 Spathe a little colored, bifid at the summit. Flower largo, white and pink. Se- 

 pals lanceolate, 3 to 3£' loug (including the 1' tube). March (S.), May (N.) 

 (Amaryllis L.). 



4. AGA^VE, L. (Gr. ayavog, admirable.) Perianth tubular-funnel- 

 form, adherent to the ovary, G-parted; stamens G, exserted ; anthers 

 linear, soon versatile ; capsule coriaceous, obtusely triangular, C- •oiled, 

 many-seeded. — A splendid American genus. Root sometimes ligneous. 

 Stem herbaceous. Lvs. mostly radical, thick and rigid, channeled, 

 often spiny. Scape many-flowered. 



1 A. Virginica L. False Aloe. Acaulescent, herbaceous ; his. linear-lanceo- 

 late, flashy, glabrous, with cartilaginous serraiures on tho margin; scape simple, 

 glabrous, with leaf-like scales and sessile, tubular flowers. — Rocky Banks, 1 eun. 

 to Ga. Root premorse. tuberous. Scape 4 to Gf high, terete, glabrous, loosely 

 spicato above. Radical leaves long, acute. Flowers 1' long, grecnis-li-yellow, 

 very fragrant, tube longer than the subulate segments. Anth. long exserted. 

 Capsule roundish, obscurely 3-angled, 3-furrowed. Sept. f 



2 A. Americana L. American Aloe. Century Plant. Acaulescent; 

 lvs. spinous-deniate, lanceolate, coriaceous and fleshy; scape braridud. lofty and 

 arborescent; cor. tube contracted in tho middle; pedicel as long as tho corolla. — 

 The largest of all herbaceous plants, native of tropical America, often cultivated. 

 It is a popular notion that it flowers but once in a hundred years, but it ia' known 

 to flower much oftener, according to tho culturo it receives. Leaves radical, 

 thick, 3 — G or 8f long, 4 — 12' wide. Tho scape arises from tho center of th» 

 leaves to tho height of 15 to 25f, bearing a pyramidal puniclo of innumerable yel- 

 low flowers. There i3 a variety with stripod leaves, f 



5. POLYAN'THES, L. Tuberose. (Gr. TroXvg, many, avOeq) 

 Perianth superior, funnel-form, with a long, curved tube; filaments in- 

 serted into the throat, included ; ovary at the bottom of the tube, the 

 summit free. — lit. an upright rhizome, thick, producing tubers above. 

 St. terete, solid, simple, co-ilowcrcd. 



B. tuberdsa L. Lvs. linear-lanceolate ; petals oblong. — A green-house i lant 

 Sts. bulbous at base with tuberous branches. Scape scaly, 2 to 3f high, with al- 

 ternate, large, white, regular fls. of a delicious fragrance, which is mo^t powerful 

 at evening. Aug., Sept f Ceylon. 



6. SPREKE'LIA, Endl. JacobeaLilv. Perianth adherent G-l caved, 

 subbilabiate and spreading above; inner segm. narrower; stain. G, in- 

 serted on the ovary, unequal, and with the style declined, but bending 

 up at apex. — Bulbous. $capc fistulous, 1-flowered. Lvs. linear. 



S. formosissima Herbt Lis. radical ; Jls. nodding, very ringent, tube 

 fringed ; sia. included in tho involute lower segments. — A splendid fiow.r, grown 

 in light, loamy soil. Leaves thick, oblong, narrow. Scape a foot high. Spathe 

 rod, disclosing a single large flower of a flue dark red color. Jn. — Aug. 



7. GAL AN 'THUS, L. Snow-drop. (Gr. ydka, milk, avOog; iVom 

 the color.) Perianth superior, segments distinct, the 3 inner shorter, 

 notched or lobed ; stamens G, inserted on the top of the ovary, < ivct, 

 included ; style straight, longer than the stamens ; stigma entire ; cap- 



