LEU 



L E U 



LEUCOJUM, a genus containing plants of 

 the bulbous-rooted Bowery perennial kind. 



It belongs to tiie class and order Hexandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in tlic natural order of 

 lhaceee. 



The characters are : that i he calyx is an ob- 

 long, obtuse, compressed spathe, gaping on the 

 flat side, withering j the corolla is bell-shaped- 

 expanding: petals six, ovate, fiat, conjoined at 

 the base, with the tips thickish and stiffish : 

 the stamina have six setaceous filaments, very 

 short : anthers oblong, obtuse, quadrangular, up- 

 right, distant: the pistilluin is a roundish infe- 

 rior genu: style clavate, obtuse : stigma setace- 

 ous, upright, sharp, longer than the stamens : 

 the pericarpium is a top- shaped capsule, three-cell- 

 ed, three- valved : the seeds several, roundish. 



The species cultivated are: 1. L. centum, 

 Great Spring Snow-drop ; 2. L. cestiuum, Sum- 

 mer Snow-drop ; 3. L. autumnale, Autumnal 

 Snow-drop ; 4. L. slrumoium, Many-flowered 

 Cape Leucojum. 



The first has an oblong bulb, shaped like that 

 of the Daffodil, but smaller : the leaves are flat, 

 deep green, four or five in number, broader and 

 longer than those of the Common Snow-drop : 

 the scape angular, near a foot high, hollow and 

 channelled : towards the top comes out a whitish 

 sheath, opening on the side, out of which come 

 out two or three flowers, hanging on slender 

 peduncles : the corolla is much larger than that 

 of the Common Snow-drop; and the ends of 

 the petals are green. They appear in March, 

 and have an agreeable scent, not much unlike 

 those of the Hawthorn. 



The flowers, which at first sight resemble 

 those of the Common Snow-drop, are easilv 

 distinguished by the absence of theThree-lcavcd 

 Nectarv : thev do not come out so soon by a 

 month. Ttis called by Mr. Curtis, Spring Snow- 

 flake. It i< a native of Italy, &c. 



The second species has a bulb the size of a 

 Chestnut, somewhat ovate, outwardly paJebrown, 

 inwardly white ; c< ats mum-rous, thin, and close- 

 ly compacted. But Miller asserts, thai it is nearly 

 as large as that of the Common Daffodil, and 

 very like it in shape : that the leaves also are not 

 unlike those of the Daffodil, more in number 

 than in :'.._ first, and keeled at the bottom, where 

 . over each other, and c mbrace the stalk : 

 the leaves are about a toot and half in length, up- 

 right, nearly linear, almost an inch in breadth, 

 obtuse; the lower ones shortest: the scape a 

 little higher than the leaves, hollow, slightly flat- 

 ted, two-edged, a little twisted, one side some- 

 times obtuse, the other acute : the peduncles 

 for the most part live from the same sheath, each 

 supporting a single flower, angular, and ot un- 



equal lengths : the flowers are pendulous, crow- 

 ing all one way, having little scent : the | 

 are white, finely grooved within, not at all unit- 

 ing at bottom ; the tips thickish, a little puc- 

 kered, and marked with a green spot. The 

 flowers appear at the end of April or the I 

 ning of May, and there is a succession of them 

 during three weeks, or longer in cool weather. 

 It is a native of Hungary, l 



To distinguish it from Galanthus, Mr. Curtis 

 names it Summer Snow-flake; and in gardens 

 it is know n by the name of Great Summer Snow- 

 drop; L<itc or Tall Snow-drop. 



The third has a thick bulb for the size of the 

 plant, composed of ma:iv glutinous coats, bitter, 

 covered with a whitish membrane : the scape slen- 

 der, brownish, ahand in height, supporting two or 

 three small white flowers (sometimes only one), 

 hanging down, having no smell. It is distin- 

 guished by its four or five capillary leaves ; which 

 begin to spring up alter the flower is past, when 

 the seeds are ripening, and sometimes after the 

 heads are ripe. They abide all the winter and 

 spring following, and wither away in the begin- 

 ning of summer; leaving the scape to appear 

 naked : the flowers are a little reddish at the 

 bottom next the stalk. It is a native of Portu- 

 gal, flowering in September. 



The fourth lias a roundish while bulb, less 

 than a hazel nut : the leaves two or three, in- 

 closed at the base in a white sheath, filiform, 

 dotted with white, keeled at bottom, flat, or a 

 little convex on the back, weak, and more or less 

 lying on the ground : scape flexuose-crect, slen- 

 der, about half a foot high, roundish, termi- 

 nated by a spreading umbel of from three to 

 seven flowers : the valves of the spathe lanceo- 

 late, acute, membranaceous, opposite, sometimes 

 equal, sometimes not, pale: the peduncles fili- 

 form, one flowered, unequal, from one to two 

 inches in length : flowers without scent, coming 

 out successively : petals white within, purplish 

 without, oblong, lanceolate, three lines in length; 

 the three inner bluntish ; the three outer acute, 

 with a blunt, greenish keel : anthers purple : 

 germ three-cornered, arecn : style white, swelled 

 out at bottom into a body larger than the germ, 

 plaited at bottom; thence awl-shaped, bluntly 

 three-cornered, the length of the stamens : stig- 

 ma obscurely trilid : capsule subglobular, three- 

 cornered: the whole plant is smooth. It is a 

 native of the Cape, flowering in November. 



Cult mi . — These plants are readily inci 

 by off-sets from the roots, which should be se- 

 parated from the old roots about every third year, 

 IU the summer season, as soon as their leaves 

 begin to decay, in the same manner as other 

 bulbous roots. See Bulbous Roots. 



