1917-18.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 



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and the stjie : incliniiio- to Fritillaria b}^ the foveolate 

 petals. From both genera it differs by: the hollow in- 

 flated lower part of starainal filaments; the much-cleft 

 and half -free foveola, which is seen in no allied genus ; the 

 dissimilar outer and inner lobes of the perianth, which are 

 all widely spreading. 



" N. parclanthi7ia, Franch. 



" Yunnan : — In pastures of Mt. Koua-la-po, above Hokin ; 

 fl. 2 Jun. 1883 (Delavay, No. 257). 



"The tubercle is formed of straight, fleshy scales like 

 those of certain lilies ; in weak individuals the leaves are 

 ordinarily scattered and the flower solitary. Robust in- 

 dividuals reach as much as 60 cm. in height, have the 

 leaves almost always in whorls of 4-6, excepting the lower 

 and upper ones, and have as many as 4 broad flowers of 

 6-8 centimeters ; these flowers are very open ; their divi- 

 sions stretched out horizontally present the singular feature 

 of being markedly dissimilar. The 3 outside ones are oval, 

 entire, and more often without violet spots ; the 3 inside 

 ones, broadly oval, toothed and fimbriate, and sprinkled with 

 purple-brown spots, have at their base a large blotch of a 

 deep purple colour in part covered by a fan-shaped scale 

 which is free in its upper half, and divided as far as the 

 middle into 5-8 lobes expanded and lobulate at the top. 



"The staminal filaments are very remarkable by the 

 voluminous expansion of their lower portion, which is 

 oboval-club-shaped, hollow with thin walls, rounded at 

 the summit and surmounted b}'^ a subulate point which 

 bears the anther inserted by the middle of its back. 



" This charming liliaceous plant, which one may hope to 

 see in cultivation one day, is an ornament of the pastures 

 on the calcareous soil of Mount Koua-la-po in the district 

 of Tali, where it grows amongst herbs after the fashion 

 of a lily." 



Franchet's expectation has been realised. N. 2)CLf"clan- 

 tliina flowered in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 

 1914, in plants raised from seeds collected by George Forrest 

 {No. 5816) for Bees Ltd., some of which were generously 

 presented to us. The plant was exhibited on 6th June 1916 



