NAT. ORDER 



Liliacece. 



ALLIUM DESCENDENS. PURPLE-HEADED GARLIC. 



Class VL Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Corolla, six-parted, spreading. Spathe, many flow- 

 ered. Unihells, heaped. Capsule, superior. 



Spe. Char. Umhells, rounded. Stamens, lanceolate, larger than 

 the corolla. 



Baron Haller, in his most admirable Monographia on the plants 

 of this genus, published in his Opuscula Botanica, describes and 

 figures this species, as a hardy perennial, a native of Switzerland, 

 and cultivated, according to Mr. Aiton, previous to the year 1766, 

 for medicinal purposes. 



The root is long, fleshy, hard, and sends ofl^ near the base, small 

 succulent fibres ; the stein is simple, and usually rises about three 

 feet in height ; the leaves are long, pointed, serrated, and placed 

 alternately upon the stem ; the jlowers, as in many other species, 

 grow in a capitulum, or little head, not an umbell, strictly speaking; 

 but as Linnasus describes it, "this head is at first covered with a 

 whitish membrane, wearing some resemblance to a night cap ; on 

 the falling off of which, the whole of the capitulum is perceived 

 to be of a green color." Soon after, the croion becomes of a fine 

 reddish purple, this color extends itself gradually downwards, 

 after which, we see the upper half of the head purple, the lower 

 half green. In this state, it has a most beautiful and pleasing ap- 

 pearance ; the purple still extending downwards, and its whole head 

 finally becomes uniformly so. At this time, the flowers begin to 

 open, and emit an odor which is very agreeable and pleasant. On 



Vol. ii.— 59 



