AMARYLLIS ATAMASCO. ATANLVSCO LILY. 71 



The whole genus Ainaryllls, indeed, seems lo be of a poetical 

 turii of mind; or, to speak more reasonably, seems to have excited 

 the poetic fancy to an unusual degree. One of tlie species be- 

 longing to it has its flowers growing on a slender, curved stem, 

 and therefore, whenever the wind blows, the mouth of the flower 

 turns away from the breeze, as if the coy maiden desired to 

 escape the kisses of Zephyr, the wild west wind. Dr. Darwin, 

 the author of that curious poem, " The Botanic Garden," refers 

 to this behavior of the plant in the following lines: — 



" When heaven's high vault condensing clouds deform, 

 Fair Amaryllis flies the incumbent storm, 

 Seeks with unsteady steps the sheltered vale, 

 And turns her blushing beauties from the gale," 



In our Atamasco Lily, however, there is no such bending of 

 the flowers, no timid or coquettish turning away from Zephyr, 

 and for this reason chiefly the plant was taken from Amaryllis, 

 and transferred to a new genus, Zephyranthcs, by Herbert, a 

 modern botanist. But it will be seen that Herbert still adheres 

 to the ancient fancy, for Zephyranthcs means "Zephyr Flower," 

 thus implying that, while Amaryllis flies from the advances of 

 her lover, Zephyranthcs willingly suffers his embraces, and 

 accepts his kisses. 



The erectness of the flowers in the Atamasco Lily is not, 

 however, the only reason which induced Herbert to make the 

 distinction just noted. An additional reason was found by him 

 in the fact that the stamens in our flower are scarcely connected 

 with the perianth, as compared with those of the true ^Imayyllis; 

 but it is well known that botanists are not generally agreed as 

 to the precise value of differences in a generic character, and the 

 division made by Herbert has not, therefore, been universally 

 adopted. We have ourselves followed Dr. Gray, although both 

 Prof. Wood and Prof.Saroent, of the Cambridire Botanic Garden, 

 have accepted Herbert's view. Prof. Sargent, whose plant our 

 artist was kindly permitted to copy, says in a memorandum 



