608 LILIACE.E. 



dry capsule. Plants of the Lily tribe are most abundant 

 in temperate climates, but attain their greatest magnitude 

 in the tropics. Dracaena Draco (Dragon's Blood) is said 

 to grow to the height of 70 feet, with a stern upwards 

 of 40 feet in circumference! In the Canaries one is in 

 existence which is known to have been an ancient tree 

 in the year 1406. The leaves of many species contain 

 a tough fibre, which is used as a substitute for hemp or 

 flax. Among these the most remarkable is Phormium 

 tenax (New Zealand Flax). The. genus Allium (Onion, 

 Garlic, and Leek) supplied food to the early inhabitants 

 of Egypt, and had divine honours paid to it. In Kamtr 

 schatka, Tartary, and the Sandwich Islands, various 

 species are cultivated for the same purpose. The bud 

 and tender part of the stem of the Grass-tree, a native 

 of Tasmania, is said to be nutritious, and of an agreeable 

 flavour, and in our own country the young shoots of 

 Asparagus rank among the most delicate of our esculent 

 vegetables. In medicine many species are of great value, 

 among which, aloes, the condensed juice of Aloe vulgdris, 

 &c., and squills, an extract of Scilla maritima, are well 

 known. As ornamental plants the beauty of the Lily 

 Tribe has been for ages proverbial ; LiliumChalcedonicum, 

 which covers the plains of Syria with its scarlet flowers, 

 is said to have been the plant to which our Blessed 

 Saviour alluded in His Sermon on the Mount, under the 

 title of "the lilies of > the field." The innumerable 

 varieties of Hyacinth are derived from an Eastern plant, 

 Hyacinthus Orientdlis ; and the Tulip (Tulipa) was long 

 the most highly prized among florists' flowers, and 

 furnished in Holland a subject for the most absurd 

 speculation. 



Group I. ASPARAGE^E. The Asparagus Group. 



Roots never bulbous ; fruit, a berry. 

 1. ASPARAGUS. Corolla deeply 6-cleft, bell-shaped ; 

 stamens 6, distinct ; stigmas 3, bent back. (Name, the 

 Greek name of the plant.) 



