Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides. 211 



XXIV. — Observations on Raphides and other Crystals in Plants. 

 By George Gulliver, F.R.S. 



[Continued from p. 40.] 



Liliacece. — Of this order we have already seen ('Annals/ Jan. 

 and April, 1864, pp. 42, 293) how some plants abound in, while 

 others are devoid of raphides ; and numerous subsequent ob- 

 servations have confirmed and extended those formerly made. 

 I have never failed to find raphides in the leaves and some other 

 parts examined of the following plants : — Funkia Sieboldiana, 

 F. purpurea, F. undulata variegata, Hemerocallis odora alba and 

 two other species, Endymion nutans, three species of Muscari, 

 four species of Scilla, three species of Omithogalum, Asphodelus 

 luteus, Asparagus officinalis, Convallaria majalis, C. fragilis, 

 Polygonatum multiflorum, Maianthemum bifolium, Ruscus acu- 

 leatus, R. Hypoglossum (raphides scanty in leaves, but plentiful 

 in perianths of these two species of Ruscus), Dracaena terminalis, 

 Agapanthus umbellatus, Lachenalia intermedia, L. tricolor, L. 

 pendula, Tritoma Uvaria, and T. media. 



On the contrary, I have never yet found raphides in many 

 other plants of the order, even after repeated examinations of 

 specimens from different localities, and still more frequent com- 

 parative trials, at all seasons, of a few species growing side by 

 side, in my garden, with raphis-bearing plants of this and other 

 allied orders. The following is a list of Liliacece in which ra- 

 phides were not found : — One species and several garden varie- 

 ties of Tulipa, Fritillaria Meleagris, Lilium candidum, L. Marta- 

 gon, L. aurantiacum, nine species of Allium, Lloydia serotina, 

 Gagea lutea, and Simethis bicolor. Of these last three plants I 

 have only seen dried portions ; and a dry and fresh leaf of Mai- 

 anthemum and one growing plant of Convallaria fragilis. In the 

 leaf and bulb of Erythronium dens canis raphides were not found, 

 though a very few small raphis-like objects were seen in the 

 roots ; in which respect this plant resembles certain Melantha- 

 cese, as Colchicum and Bulbocodium, noticed in the ' Annals ' for 

 April 1864, p. 294. 



Crystal Prisms in Liliacece. — There are some plants of this 

 order in which, together with either a want, scarcity, or plenty 

 of true raphides, larger crystal prisms occur more or less abun- 

 dantly, as may be well seen in Phormium tenax, and in the 

 species of Tritoma, Dracena, Muscari, and Yucca. These prisms, 

 as described in former communications ('Annals/ Sept. 1863, 

 April, May, and Oct. 1864, and Jan. 1865), differ remarkably 

 from regular raphides, and occur in many Dicotyledones and 



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