MELANTHACE^— MEADOW SAFFRON TRIBE 255 



14, FiUTiLLAiiY {FrUilldiia). 



Common Fritillary, or Snake's-head {F. mdci'KjrU). — Leaves narrow, 

 pointed, and all alternate ; stem single-flowered ; flower drooping, the points 

 of the perianth turning inwards ; bulb small, of several swollen scales. It is 

 not often that wc find the large flower of the Fritillary nodding over the 

 grass of our meadows, though on moist pastures of the east and south of 

 England it is less infrequent than elsewhere. The author has found it, on 

 more than one occasion, on grassy places near Higham, in Kent ; and many 

 years since it grew so abundantly in a meadow between Mortlako and Kew, 

 that the sjDot long bore the name of Snake's-head Meadow. It was not until 

 after the middle of the last century known to be a native flower, but it was 

 described a century earlier as a garden plant. It was called by the writers 

 of that period Lilium variegatum, and Chequered Daffodil ; and it had also 

 the name of Narcusus caparonius, from Noel Capperon, an apothecary of 

 Orleans, Avho was one of the victims of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. 

 This botanist, who collected a large number of curious plants, is said by 

 Beckmann to have given this flower the name of Fritillaria, from the regular 

 square reddish or reddish-brown marks which chequer the blossom, and 

 which remind one of a chess-board. Dodonajus gave it the specific name 

 because the same marks suggested those on the feathers of the guinea-fowl, 

 Numidia meleagris. Gerarde calls it Turkey Hen, or Ginny-flower; and 

 I'emarks that many plants were sent him from Paris "by the curious and 

 painful herbalist, John Robin." He adds, that they were greatly esteemed 

 " for the beautifying of our gardens and the bosoms of the beautiful." 



The flower of the Fritillary droops from the summit of a stem about a 

 foot high. Its colours are pale and dark brownish-purple, and it expands in 

 April. It is sometimes found of a pure white or greenish-white colour. 



Of the typical genus Lilium, from which the order gets its name, we have 

 no native representatives ; but Lilium marfagon has been long naturalized in 

 one spot at Mickleham, Surrey. 



Order LXXXIX. MELANTHACE^— MEADOW SAFFRON 



TRIBE. 



Perianth 6-parted or united below into a tube ; stamens 6 ; anthers 

 turned outwards ; ovary 3-celled ; style deeply 3-clef t ; capsule divisible into 

 .3 valves ; seeds each contained in a membranous case ; leaves sheathing at 

 the base with parallel nerves. This small order of plants contains species 

 which have very powerful medicinal properties. Some are acrid, narcotic, 

 and even poisonous. 



1. Meadow Saffron (Culchicum). — Perianth of 6 divisions, with a very 

 long tube rising from a sheath ; capsules 3-celled ; seeds round, numerous. 

 Name from Colchis, a country famous for its medicinal plants. 



2. Scottish Asphodel {Tofidldia). — Perianth of 6 divisions, with a small 

 3-lobed sheath. Name in honour of Mr. Tofield, an English botanist. 



