32. LILIACEAE I25 



SUBORDER LILIINEAE 



FAMILY 32. LILIACEAE 



Perianth more or less corolla-like. Stamens 6, rarely fewer. Ovary superior, 

 usually 2 — 5-celled, rarely i-celled with parietal placentas. Seeds with a small 

 embryo and abundant, fleshy or horny albumen. — Genera 79, species 1450. 

 (Including COLCHICACEAE and SMILACEAE.) (Plate 18.) 



1. Underground part of the stem a bulb or a corm 2 



Underground part of the stem a rootstock or not distinctly developed. 41 



2. Leaves all radical, rarely also some much smaller cauline leaves present. 3 

 Leaves distributed along the stem or crowded at its top 31 



3. Stem arising out of a corm, very short, underground during the time of 



flowering, bearing i — 3 flowers at the top. Perianth with a very long, 

 sometimes split tube. Capsule opening septicidally. [Tribe COL- 



CHICEAE.J ' . . . . 4 



Stem arising out of a bulb. Flowers in racemes or umbels, very rarely 

 solitary. Perianth with a not very long tube or without a tube. Capsule 

 opening loculicidally 5 



4. Perianth-segments free. — Species 2. Algeria and Abyssinia. Used as 



ornamental plants Merendera Ram. 



Perianth-segments united below. — Species 5. North Africa. Poisonous 

 and used as medicinal and ornamental plants. . . Colchicum L. 



5. Flowers in cymose umbels or heads surrounded by 2 — 3 bracts. Scape 



distinctly developed. Leaves usually linear. Perianth-segments free 



or united at the base only. [Tribe ALLIEAE.] 6 



Flowers in racemes, corymbs, or spikes, very rarely solitary, rarely in 

 umbels or heads surrounded by 3 or more bracts, but then scape almost 

 wanting, leaves oblong to ovate, spreading, and perianth-segments 

 united to the middle or higher up 8 



6. Inflorescence surrounded bj^ narrow bracts. Radical leaves i — ^3. Perianth 



usually yellow. — Species 10. North Africa. . . . Gagea Salisb. 



Inflorescence surrounded by broad membranous bracts usually united 



at the base 7 



7. Perianth-segments united into a short tube at the base. Filaments dilated. 



Ovules in each ovary-cell 6 — 12. Smell not alliaceous. — Species 2. 

 Cultivated and sometimes naturalised in North Africa, the Mascarene 

 Islands, and St. Helena. Ornamental plants. {Milla Cav.) 



Nothoscordum Kunth 

 Perianth-segments free or nearly free. Ovules in each ovary-cell 2, rarely 

 3 — 6. Smell alliaceous. — Species 30. North Africa, Abyssinia, southern 

 West Africa, and South Africa. Some of them (onion, leek, garhc) are 

 cultivated as vegetables or pot-herbs, and yield also condiments, medica- 

 ments, and glue ; others are used as ornamental plants. Allium L. 



