1917-18.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 277 



mucilaginously rotting remains of 3-year-old and older 

 scales ; chief scales of the bulb 5-6 2-year-old fleshy straw- 

 coloured ovate tapering to a membranous erose decapitated 

 summit adpressed connivent more or less surrounding 

 withered base of stem of their year and enclosing flower- 

 ing stem enwrapped in shorter 5-6 scales of the year which 

 have fleshy bases and membranous top acute or obtuse. 

 Roots somewhat fleshy. Stem as much as 75 cm. long and 

 5 mm. in diameter below first green leaves, above the bulb 

 tuftedly rooting after fashion of lilies, bare of green leaves 

 below over as much as 28 cm. and bearing there one or two 

 sparse distant strap-shaped blunt mucronate scale-leaves. 

 Green leaves in distant (often 7'5 cm.) whorls of 3-6 after 

 a first solitary leaf often followed by a pair, at summit 

 sometimes in pairs, lanceolate or rarely lower ones oval- 

 lanceolate long-acuminate with a sharp point, as much as 

 9*5 cm. long 2*4 cm. broad, conspicuously 3-nerved with 

 subsidiary intermediate parallel nerves, olive-green above, 

 beneath paler somewhat glaucous. Flowers 2-3 distant 

 racemose axillary to one leaf of uppermost whorls, pedicels 

 stiff" straight, at apex thickened and there nodding, slightly 

 shorter than axillant leaf, spreading nearly horizontal. 

 Perianth open spreading as much as 9 cm. in diameter; 

 segments " watery " or satiny white all equal in length and 

 spotted pale purple or crimson-maroon, petaline with deep 

 purple-red 2-lobed basal blotch about 6 mm. long ; sepaline 

 segments with small median basal purple blotch and faint 

 midrib eglandular, ovate as much as a little over 4 cm. long 

 about 2 cm. broad, shortly acuminate ending in darker 

 sometimes swollen tip, acuminate apex ciliate-fringed rest 

 of margin entire eciliate ; petaline nearly orbicular with 

 prominent midrib as much as 35 cm. broad abruptly 



lata longe acuminata ad 9 '5 cm. longa 2 "4 cm. lata papyracea, supra 

 atroviridia subtus glauca. Flores distantes in racemum 2-3-tlorum laxe 

 dispositi ; pedicelli stricti patentes apice nutantes. Perianthum aperte 

 patens ad 9 cm. diam. albidum nitens maculis pallide-purpureis vel 

 kermesinis et varo rufescente basali notatum ; segmenta iuaequalia dis- 

 similia, calycina eglandulosa ad 4 cm. longa 2 cm. lata breviter acuminata, 

 apice obscure fimbriata, petalina suborbicularia ad 3 "5 cm. lata abrupte 

 acuminata, costa media prominula, margine superne dentato-fimbriata, 

 basi biglandulosa glandula quaque labio incise tlabelliformi cristata. 

 Stamina circ. 1'6 cm. longa ovarium subaequantia ; filamenti parsinflata 

 ad 9 mm. longa, apex subiilatus ad 3 mm. longus ; antherae circ. 8 mm. 

 longae ad 3 mm. supra basin dorsifixae. 



