BOTANY. 81 



tuberous and fibrous roots, radical plaited leaves, and simple or branched 

 scapes. Natives of warm countries. Some have bitter roots, others have edi- 

 ble tubers. There are four known genera, including sixty species. Examples : 

 Hypoxis, Curculigo. 



The common American Hypoxis erecta belongs to this order, which is not 

 retained by Dr. Gray. 



Order 28. Amaryllidace.e, the Amaryllis Family. Perianth petaloid. 

 regular, six-cleft, the outer segment overlapping the inner. Stamens six. 

 inserted in the perianth, sometimes cohering by the dilated bases, and form- 

 ing a kind of cup ; occasionally there are additional sterile stamens, which 

 sometimes form a corona above the tube of the perianth ; anthers introrse. 

 Ovary inferior, three-celled ; ovules 00, anatropal ; style one ; stigma three- 

 lobed. Fruit either a three-celled, three-valved capsule, with loculicidal de- 

 hiscence, or baccate. Seed with a thin or thick, or black and brittle spermo- 

 derm ; albumen fleshy ; embryo nearly straight ; radicle next to hilum. Usually 

 bulbous plants, sometimes with fibrous roots ; leaves ensiform, with parallel 

 veins ; flowers spathaceous ; stem sometimes woody and tall. Natives chiefl}^ 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. But species are found in Europe, East and West 

 Indies, America, and Australia. 



Tribe 1. AgavecE. with fibrous roots, both segments of the perianth alike. 

 Examples : Fourcroya, Agave, Doryanthes, Bravoa, &c. The most remark- 

 able species of Agavese, is Agave americana (hundred year aloe, century plant. 

 &,c). The trivial name is derived from the old idea that inflorescence took 

 place but once in a century. This species found wild in warmer America, 

 furnishes the pulque of the Mexicans. A small species, A. virginica, is found 

 in the Southern States. 



Agave americana {pi. 51, ßg. 8, a~d). Fig. 8, e, represents the fruit of A. 

 lurida. 



Tribe 2. Alstrcemeriecc. Fibrous roots, outer segment of the perianth dif- 

 ferent in form from the inner. Example : Alstroemeria. 



Tribe S. NarcissecB. Bulbous: flowers with a corona. Ex. Narcissus. 

 The daffodil, a prominent species of Narcissus (N. pseudo-narcissus), is repre- 

 sented in j)l. 58, 59, fig. 2, a-c. Other species are N. poeticus. the narcissus : 

 N. jonquilla, the jonquil ; (fcc. 



Tribe 4. AmaryllecB. Bulbous : flowers Avithout a corona. Ex. Amaryllis. 

 A. atamasca is a North American species; A. formosissima, a South Ameri- 

 can {pi. 58, 59, ßg. 1.) 



Order 29. H.^umgdoracee, the Bloodwort Family. Herbs with fibrous 

 roots, usually equitant leaves, and perfect three- or six-androus regular flow- 

 ers, which are woolly or scurfy outside, the tube of the six-lobed perianth co- 

 herent with the whole surface, or with merely the loAver part of the three- 

 celled ovary. Anthers introrse : style single, sometimes three-partible. Pod 

 crowned, or inclosed by the persistent perianth : three-celled, loculicidal three- 

 to many-seeded. Embryo small, in hard or fleshy albumen. Examples r 

 Haemodorum, Lachnanthes, Lophiola, Aletris, (fcc. 



Order 30. Burmanniace^, the Burmannia Family. Perianth colored, 

 tubular, six-cleft, the three outer segments (calyx) often keeled at the back, 



ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPAEDIA. — VOL. If. Ü 81 



