149. AMARYLLIDACEM. [5. Hymenocallis. 



Tube slender, 3-4" long, tepals rather shorter, 2-5-3" or only 2" by 

 •2", outer linear-oblanceolate, inner rather shorter and broader, all 

 mucronate or apiculate, pure white. Corona about fths. as long as 

 perianth or 1-5" long, obconic, including the •3-- 5" long teeth, of 

 which there are 2 between each stamen, free part of filament -i--?" 

 long with yelloAV slightly curved anthers -2" long. Fruit globosely 

 ellipsoid, ribbed, on a pedicel -3- -4" long. 



Frequent in the forests. Singbhum, esp. Porahat ! Eanchi ! Palamau ! Fl, 

 April -May. 



Bulb globose 2" diam., Mith or without a neck according to the state of the brown 

 sheaths forming it, usually neck 2" long. L. about 6" by -5" at time of flowering. 

 Spathes -7-1 -5". Per. -tube scarcely angled, outer tepals more acute than the 

 inner. Teeth triangular, acuminate or acute. 



It would be a very ornamental garden plant, but that the flowers only open at 

 evening and fade on the following day. The scent is faint and not very* pleasant. 



2. P. biflorum, Roxb. 



This is distinguished from P. verecundum by the 3-4-merous spathe, 

 and flowers 2-3 only in which the corona between the filaments is 

 not prominently toothed but erose. The corona is broadly funnel- 

 shaped and scarcely one-third the length of the corolla. 



It was recorded by me in the For. Fl. Cfi. Nagpur and in Beur/al Plants, but 

 there are no specimens in the Calcutta Herbarium, or in my herbarium nearer 

 than Kaipiu (in the Central Provinces), and I suspect that specimens of P. vere- 

 cundum were taken for it. 



Roxburgh's drawing {incd. No. 1960) agrees well with his description. It shows 

 2 fls. only and 4 spathes. Perianth tube 4" and long Unear segments 3 • 5", corona 

 1-3" erose between the stamens. Leaves over 1" broad. Baker says P. biflorum. 

 Ait. = P. verecundum. Ait., but Aiton says that the lobes of the corolla in vere- 

 cundum are 2-fid and in other respects the two are very different. 



P. longiflorum, Roxb., is frequent in the Central Provinces and is likely to be 

 found on the western plateaux of our area. It has a globose or bottle-shaped 

 bulb 2-5" diam. with a long neck. The scape is remarkably short, only 1-2" high, 

 whereas the perianth-tube of the 1-2 flowers is 4-5-6" in length of a pale green 

 coloiu. Tepals white lanceolate 2-2 -.5". Corona 1-1-5" long including the 

 oblong 2-horned segment between each filament, free part of filament about as 

 long. Fl. June. 



3. P. verecundum, Ait. Syn, P. triflorum, F.B.I. ; Ku-kanda, Or. 

 Scapes 1-2 from the bulb, 6-10" long (without the flowers), 3-4-fld.^ 



spathes oblong-lanceolate 1". Pedicels 3-gonous, -3-- 4" long. Peri- 

 anth-tube slender for about • 7-1" only, then funnel-shaped for about 

 •7", segments lanceolate recurved slightly shorter than the tube, 

 •25- -3" broad. Corona campanulate with 2 large equal acute lobes 

 between each filament. 



Kalahandi ! Fl. May. 



Bulb globose 1-5" diam. with a stout neck. Aiton describes the leaves as 

 about 1-5 ft. long and -5" broad, and the drawing quoted above, which I take to 

 be this species, shows the plant flowering with 7-8 leaves 6-12" long by -5- -6" 

 broad, but the leaves in my specimen were quite young. Corona in ray specimen 

 •6- -7" long and free part of filaments about 1", anthers pale yellow, -3". 



5. HYMENOCALLIS, Salisb. 



Bulbous herbs with leaves lorate or somewhat broad and contracted 

 into a petiole. Scape solid with 2 involucral spathe -bracts, inner 



1111 



