CLASS VI. ORDKRI.J , ALLIUM. 487 



thin membranous bractea, cleft into two or three segments, peduncles 

 about an inch long, angular, all nearly equal, the margins roughish, 

 numerous, lax, each bearing a white flower ; of six elliptic lanceolate 

 pieces, spreading, and each bearing at its base a simple stamen, shorter 

 than itself, with an awl-shaped filament, and rather small yellow 

 anther. Style short, stigma obtuse. Capsule turbinate, of three ob- 

 tusely angular lobes, three celled, each cell containing several roundish 

 seeds. 



Habitat. Moist woods, hedges, and shady places ; frequent. 



Perennial ; flowering in June. 



This species of Allium is better known to the farmer than admired, 

 for in the meadows or fields where it grows it is a great pest and 

 annoyance, from the circumstance that it communicates to the milk 

 and butter oi the cows which graze in them, the unpleasant nauseous 

 flavour of the plant, which the cattle devour without discrimination, 

 when first turned into the tender spring herbage, so that unless the 

 plant is removed, the produce of the cows is almost useless. It is a 

 very pretty showy white flower, but the pleasure of seeing it growing 

 in the hedges and field sides is not increased by gathering, for so 

 pregnant is the whole plant with its disagreeable odour, that upon 

 bruising any part of it the powerful scent is disclosed, and renders it 

 disgusting. 



7. A. Schceno'prasum, Linn. (Fig. 554.) Chive Garlic. Stem naked, 

 rounded ; leaves linear, round, fistulose, taper pointed ; umbel sub- 

 globose, without bulbs ; stamens simple, shorter than the lanceolate 

 acute segments of the perianth. 



English Botany, t. 2441. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 138. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 160. Liudley, Synopsis, p. 268. 



Bulbs oblong, very slender, numerous, crowded into dense tufts. 

 Leaves several, arising from the bulb, or some of them sheathing the 

 base of the stem, erect, about a foot long, round, hollow, tapering to 

 the point, smooth, a glaucous green, sheathed at the base. Stem erect, 

 round, smooth, slender, about as long as the leaves, terminating in a 

 somewhat globose umbel, of purplish rose-coloured flowers, enveloped 

 at the base in a membranous bractea, of two ovate short pieces. 

 Flowers elevated on short peduncles, mostly of the same length. Peri- 

 anth of six elliptical acutely pointed pieces, keeled at the back, and 

 each bearing at its base a stamen, shorter than itself, with simple awl- 

 shaped filaments, and rather small ovate anthers, of two cells. Style 

 short. Stigma obtuse. 



Habitat. Meadows, pastures, and humid places ; rare. Westmore- 

 land, Berwickshire, Argyleshire, and above Kynance Cove, Cornwall. 



Perennial ; flowering in June. 



This species is frequently cultivated, having similar properties with 

 the rest of the Alliums, but is mnch milder than the garlic, and is used 

 in the place of onions (either raw or dressed) before they are in season. 



