NAT. ORDER 



Amaryllidacece. 



AMARYLLIS BREVIFLORA. AMARYLLIS LILY. 



Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 

 Gen. Char. Leaves, hiemal, arcuate. Scape, autumnal, before the 

 leaves. Umbel, many-flowered, pedunculated, divaricate. 

 Germen, triangularly obovate. Tube, narrow, funnel-shaped. 

 Petaline filaments, adhering to the petals. Anthers, incum- 

 bent, attached in the middle. Capsule, obovate, disposed to 

 burst. 

 Spe. Char. Leaves, lorate-linear, channelled. Perianth, funnel- 

 shaped. Segments, acuminate, recurvediy spreading. 

 The roots of this family of plants are nearly all bulbous, 

 from the size of a walnut to that of a large turnip ; the calyx and 

 corolla are confounded, superior, regular, colored, and the former 

 overlapping the latter ; the stamens are six, arising from the sepals 

 and petals, sometimes cohering by their dilated bases into a kind 

 of cup ; sometimes an additional series of barren stamens is pre- 

 sent, often forming a cup which surmounts the tube of the peri- 

 anthium; anthers bursting inwardly; ovarium three-celled, the 

 cells many-seeded, or sometimes one or two-seeded ; style one ; 

 stigma three-lobed ; fruit three-celled and three-valved ; capsule 

 with loculicidal dehiscence, or a three-seeded berry ; seeds with 

 either a thin membranous, or thick and fleshy testa ; albumen 

 fleshy ; embryo nearly straight, with its radicle turned towards the 

 hilum. 



Propagation and Culture. This species, which is remarkable 

 for its beautiful flowers, is a native of the Cape of Good Hope ; 



VoLiJi.— 24. 



