Acave. CXLVH. AMARYLLIDACER. 639 
. 2, NARCISSUS. 
Grr. vapxn, stupor ; from the effects produced by the smell of some of the species which are poisonous, 
Perianth regular ; corona monophyllous, funnel-form, consisting of 
a whorl of united sterile stamens, within which the fertile ones are 
inserted. 
Obs.—A well known, popular genus, whose species are easily cultivated, many of them very fragrant 
and beautiful: ‘They have bulbous roots, ensiform leaves, and usually yellow flowers, with a long, com- 
pressed spathe, opening on one side, and deciduous. 
1. N. Jonquitta.—Scape 1—3-flowered; segments reflexed, spatulate; cup 
eo) much shorter than the segments, saucer-shaped, spreading, crenate.— 
ative of Spain. Scape a foot high, round, slender, bearing at the summit a 
few flowers of a rich yellow, and very fragrant. May, Jn. . 
2. N. poeticus. Poet's Narcissus.—Scape 1-flowered ; segments imbricate at 
base, reflexed; corona expanded, flat, rotate, crenulate; 3 anth. shorter than the 
tube.—Native of S. Europe. Scape about a foot high, leaves of the same 
length. It bears a single flower, which is mostly white, but having the crown 
singularly adorned with circles of crimson, white and yellow. Jn. 
3. N. Psevpo-Narcissus. Daffodil.—Scape 2-edged, straight, striated ; seg- 
ments sulphur color ; corona with a serrate-crenate orifice —Native of England. 
Root bulbous. Leaves linear, a foot long, striate, veined. Scape a foot high, 
healing a! the top a single, very large flower, with a very long cup or corona. 
April, May. ; ’ ’ j ’ . 
4, N. Tazerta.—Spathe many-flowered ; corona campanulate, truncate, shorter 
than the petals; vs. flati—Native of Spain. Root a large bulb. Leaves smooth, 
sword-shaped. Scape naked, striate, a foot high, with 10—12 flowers. Corolla 
white, cup a strong yellow, not fragrant. April, May. 
3. GALANTHUS. 
Gr. yaha, milk, avSos; on account of the delicate whiteness of the flower. 
Flowers spathaceous ; sepals 3, concave ; corona formed of 3 small, 
emarginate segments; stigma simple.— Ornamental, bulbous exotics. 
G. niviuis. Snow-drop.—Luvs. linear, radical, keeled, acute; scape 1-flowered. 
—-Native of the Alps, well known in gardens, flowering early in Spring. It is 
a small] plant, half a foot high, arising from a perennial bulb, bearing a single, 
large, nodding flower white as snow. Stem usually furnished with 2 long, nar- 
row leaves towards the top. 
4. AGAVE. 
Gr. ayavos, admirable; a term eminently applicable. . 
Perianth tubular, funnel-form, adherent to the ovary, 6-parted ; sta- 
mens 6, exserted; anthers versatile ; capsule ovate, attenuate at each 
end, obtusely triangular, 3-celled, many-seeded.—A splendid Ameri- 
can genus. Root sometimes ligneous. Stem herbaceous. Lvs. mostly 
radical, rigid, channeled, often spiny. Panicle large, pyramidal. 
1. A. Virainica. False Aloe. 
Acaulescent, herbaceous; dvs. linear-lanceolate, fleshy, glabrous, with car- 
tilaginous serratures on the margin; scape simple, glabrous, with leaf-like scales 
and sessile flowers.—Rocky banks, Penn. to Ga. Root premorse, tuberous. 
Scape 6f high, terete, glabrous, loosely spicate above. Radical leaves long, 
acute. Flowers greenish-yellow, very fragrant, tube longer than the acute seg- 
ments. Capsule roundish, obscurely 3-angled, 3-furrowed, 3-valved, 3-celled. Sept. 
2. A. AmericAns. American Aloe. Century Plant.—Acaulescent; lvs. spi- 
nose-dentate, lanceolate, coriaceous and fleshy ; scape branched, lofty and arbo- 
rescent; cor. tube contracted in the middle; pedicel as long as the 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 is known 
to flower much oftener, according to the culture it receives. Leaves radical, 
thiek, 3—6 or 8f long, 4—i2’ wide. The scape arises from the centre of the 
46 is. 
