HYPOXIS 



THE BULB BOOK 



ICACINA 



narrow leaves (Gard. Chron. 1903, 

 xxxiii. 116). 



H. tublflora (//. guianensis ; II, 

 petiolata ; Pancratium guianense ; P. 

 tubiflorum ; P. pettolatumj.This is 

 a native of Guiana, Trinidad, and the 

 Amazon Valley, and, according to Mr 

 Baker, it was " introduced into culti- 

 vation at Kew about 1803 from bulbs 

 taken in a captured French vessel from 

 Cayenne, and again by Lambert in 

 1818." The ovoid bulbs are 3 to 4 

 ins. through, and have thin oblong 

 acute leaves 8 to 12 ins. long, 4 to 5 

 ins. broad in the middle. Flowers 

 numerous, with an erect slender tube 

 6 to 8 ins, long, and linear segments 

 4 ins. long, the narrow funnel- 

 shaped central cup being about 1 in. 

 deep. (Rot, Reg. t. 265.) 



H. undulata (Pancratium iindida- 

 tum). A Venezuelan plant with 

 large ovoid bulbs and thin oblong 

 acute leaves about 1 ft. long and 5 

 to 6 ins. broad in the middle, nar- 

 rowed gradually into a long stalk. 

 About a dozen flowers are borne on 

 top of a scape 2 ft. high, the peri- 

 anth-tube being 6 to 7 ins. long, with 

 linear, drooping, wavy segments 3 to 

 3i ins. long, and a funnel-shaped cup 

 about 1 in. deep. 



HYPOXIS (hypo, beneath; oxys, 

 sharp ; referring to the base of the 

 seed-pod). Nat. Ord. Amaryllidese. 

 A genus containing over fifty species 

 of pretty little bulbous plants dis- 

 tributed over Tropical Asia, Australia, 

 the Mascarene Islands, Tropical and 

 South Africa, and Tropical and North 

 America. They have narrow leaves, 

 often covered with soft hairs or down, 

 and starry six-parted flowers borne 

 either singly or in clusters. They 

 are practically unknown outside 

 botanical collections. A compost of 

 sandy peat and loam suits them very 

 well, and some of the species may be 



grown in a cool greenhouse, although 

 most of them prefer a more genial 

 atmosphere. Increased by division. 



The best-known species, all with 

 yellow flowers, unless otherwise 

 mentioned, are : H. angustifolia, H. 

 colchicifolia, H. erecta (Bot. Mag. t. 

 710), H. hemerocallidea (Bot. Mag. 

 t. 5690), H. latifolia (Bot. Mag. t. 

 4817), H. longifolia (Bot. Mag. t. 

 6035), H. multiceps, H. obtusa (Bot. 

 Reg. t. 159), H. regia, H. Booperi 



FIG. 187. Hypoxis stellata. (J.) 



(Lem. Jard. Fleur. t. 303), H. serrata 

 (Bot. Mag. tt. 709, 917); H. stellata, 

 and its variety elegans (Bot. Mag. t. 

 1223), having white and blue flowers ; 

 and H. villosa (Bot. Mag. t. 711). 



All the above are natives of S. 

 Africa except //. erecta, which comes 

 from N. America. 



ICACINA (name given on account 

 of the resemblance of the branches 



287 



