) 
ae {i —— 
AFFODIL, Snowdrop, and Snow- 
flake are the. sole British re- 
presentatives of the extensive 
and beautiful Amaryllis family. 
ae These plants form a kind of 
connecting link between the Iris family and the 
Lilies, though they differ from both. Instead of the 
solid corm of the Crocus, which is a depressed stem, 
we have here bulbs, which are stems surrounded by 
succulent leaves. They serve the same purpose as 
the corm—that is, they are underground treasuries 
in which the material made by the leaves this spring 
may be stored up through summer drought and 
winter frost to be utilised in the production of rich 
flowers early next spring. From this base arise the 
long flat narrow leaves with parallel margins, and 
the flattened flower-scapes. At the summit of the 
scape there is an envelope (the spathe) of thin 
parchmenty material containing the flower-bud, or 
buds which rupture it as they increase in size, when 
it begins to shrivel. The flower is again a perianth 
318 
