f$ PET ALO IDEA 



4. Gladiolus (Gladiolus) 



1. G. communis (Common Gladiolus). The only British species. 

 Stem 1-2 feet high, with narrow, glaucous leaves, and bearing a 

 one-sided spike of 4-8 red flowers, each with two narrow bracts at 

 its base. Found only in the New Forest and the Isle of Wight ; 

 rare. Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



5. Sisyrinchium (Blue-eyed Grass) 



1. S. angustifolium (Blue-eyed Grass). Stems 6-12 inches high, 

 2-edged and winged, and with sheathing, narrow leaves ; at the 

 summit of the stalk is a head of 1-6 blue flowers. Bogs near Kerry 

 and Galway in Ireland, and supposed to be indigenous. Fl. July, 

 August. Perennial. 



A species, S. californicum, with yellow flowers, was found in 1896 

 at Rosslare, Co. Wexford. 



Natural Order LXXXII 

 AMARYLLIDACEjE. Amaryllis Tribe 



Perianth of 3 coloured sepals and 3 coloured petals ; stamens 6, 

 arising from the sepals and petals, sometimes united by the base 

 of their filaments ; ovary inferior, 3-celled ; style 1 ; stigma 3-lobed ; 

 fruit, a many-seeded capsule or a 1- to 3-seeded berry. An extensive 

 tribe, principally composed of herbaceous plants with bulbous roots, 

 sword-shaped leaves, and showy flowers, which are distinguished 

 from the true Lilies by their inferior ovary ; that organ in the 

 Lily tribe being superior, and enclosed within the corolla. Large 

 and beautiful species belonging to this Order are found in abun- 

 dance in Brazil, the East and West Indies, and especially the Cape 

 of Good Hope. In the temperate regions they are less common, 

 and by no means so showy. In Great Britain it is doubtful whether 

 a single species is indigenous, though the number of varieties 

 cultivated in gardens, both in conservatories and in the open air, 

 is very great. The bulbous roots of many plants belonging to the 

 Amaryllis tribe are poisonous ; some, it is said, to such a degree 

 that deleterious properties are communicated to weapons dipped 

 in their juice. The roots of the Snowdrop and Daffodil are emetic, 

 and the flowers of the last (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus) are a 

 dangerous poison. The roots of some species, however, are nutri- 

 tious, affording a kind of arrowroot. 



From the juice of a kind of Agave (A. Americana) a fermented 

 liquor is made, which, under the name of " pulque," is in Mexico 

 a common beverage. This plant, called by the Mexicans " maguey," 

 is cultivated over an extent of country embracing 50,000 square 

 jiiles. In the city of Mexico alone the consumption of pulque 



