Order i if. Liliacece. 351 



favourable situations in England, as in Tennyson's garden in the 

 Isle of Wight : 



" And marvel how in English air 



My Yucca, which no winter quells, 



Altho' the months have scarce begun, 



Has pushed towards our faintest sun 



A spike of half-accomplished bells." 



Draccsna ferrea, a shrubby plant with copper-coloured leaves, 

 crowded together at the top of the stem, and panicles of very small 

 flowers, white or purplish : common in gardens. Tulips and 

 hyacinths, of which the varieties may be counted by the hundred, 

 belong also to this family j and the true Aloes, of which there are 

 none given in the Indian Flora, nor in D., either wild or intro- 

 duced ; but G. has A. perfoliata as common in gardens under the 

 name of Tatar pur, and there are probably others. 



ORDER 118. PONTEDERACEJE. 



Herbs, more or less aquatic ; leaves erect or floating, flowers 

 in spikes or racemes from the sheathing petioles, and with 

 irregularly sheathing bracts ; perianth of six unequal divisions, 

 stamens one to six inserted at the base of the lobes, capsule 

 membranous, 3-valved. 



A very small order, well marked (in the two Indian species) by the 

 handsome flowers coming out of an opening in the petiole. 



Monochoria. Leaves radical and solitary at the top of the 

 branches, perianth bell-shaped ; one of the six stamens usually 

 larger, with the filament toothed on, one side, anthers at length 

 elongating. 



* 1. M. hastcefolia (Poniederia hastata, D.). Leaves trian- 

 gular or arrow-shaped, very smooth and glossy, petioles of the 

 radical leaves 1 \ to 2 feet long, swollen and splitting near the 

 top to let the raceme come through : flowers numerous, bright 

 blue or violet : the top flowers open first, and all wither on the 

 stem ; the large anther is blue, the other yellow. 



2. M. vaginalis (Pontederia v., D.). A succulent plant with 

 smooth glossy leaves, narrow cordate pointed, petioles long and 

 hollow, flowers bright blue like hyacinths. 



D. has for both of these, " margins of tanks and water holes, 

 common." H. has " throughout India " for both. I have seen the last 

 in dry rice-fields in the Konkan. If. calls it a very variable plant, 

 the blue flowers sprinkled with red. 



ORDER 119. XYRIDE^. 



Herbs, with radical leaves sheathing at the base, and a spike 

 of flowers on a naked scape ; sepals, clawed petals and stamens 



