NATURAL ARRANGEMENT. 



453. ORDER CXCV. ASPHODE V LEJ. 



Genera 51, Species 519 ; Hot-house Species 32 ; Green-house Species 267 ; Hardy Ligneous Species 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 220. feet ; j 29 feet ; *= feet. 



Different from Hemerocallideas in their expanded flowers and dark crustaceous seed-coat ; the only 

 characters which have yet been discovered to distinguish them. The species are all pretty, many very hand, 

 some, some bulbous, some with fasciculated roots, a few with arborescent stems. They are uncommon in 

 tropical countries, very abundant in temperate latitudes, and not unfrequent in the cooler regions of the world. 

 Among the prettiest are Gagea, Scilla, and 7/yacinth us the least interesting are Chlon'jphytum and Zuccagnia. 

 Asparagus and Dracaena have berried fruits ; the former is diuretic, and when young is employed as a favourite 

 food ; the same properties are possessed by Scilla and J'llium. The stamens of Arthropodium are remarkable 

 for their tuft of yellow hairs, of Djanella for the thickening of the filaments. Many of the Alliums are very 

 pretty, and admired notwithstanding their unpleasant odour; their roots are all eatable, and those of some 

 among the most useful articles of food. Thysanbtus, the fringed violet of New Holland, has rich purple 

 blossoms, with long delicate fringes which sparkle in the sun, as if continually bedewed with minute particles 

 of water. From Phormium tenax the strong fibrous substance called New Zealand flax is prepared. Xan- 

 thorrha^a has an arborescent stem which abounds in resin. Offsets and cuttings. 



*0 



454. ORDER CXCVI. TULIPA^CE^E. 



Genera 8, Species 112; Hot-house Species 3 ; Green-house Species 12; Hardy Ligneous Species 9; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 88. 12 feet ; 23 feet ; =fe feet. 



It is doubted whether several of the preceding orders are not rather sections of this; until, however, the 

 combination of these shall be effected by some hand yet more masterly than those by which they have been 

 divided, it is best to let them remain as they are. The beauty of the plants composing the Liliaceze, strictly 

 so called, is universally acknowledged ; the rich colors of the branching lilies, the vivid hues of the painted 

 tulip, the modest graces of the humble Erythroniums, and the portly forms of the Yuccas are all attractions 

 of which no good garden should be destitute. The species are all inhabitants of either cold or temperate 

 latitudes. Offsets. 



1027 Yucca L. 



1017 Thlipa L. 



1018 Fritillaria L. 



3337 Cyclobothra Swt. 

 3339 Caloch6rtus Ph. 

 1016 iilium L. 



33 



1029 Gloribsa L. 

 1028 Erythrbniutn L. 



455. ORDER CXCVII. MELANTHA V CE^. 



Genera 22, Species 73; Hot-house Species 2 ; Green-house Species 25 ; Hardy Ligneous Species Oj 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 46. f feet ; 13 feet ; *= feet. 



These, too, are pretty herbs, although destitute of the grandeur of the preceding, which, however, they far 

 surpass in the potency of their virtues. The flowers of many are inconspicuous, and of a dull green or yellow 

 color, sometimes assuming a livid hue, which will bespeak the nature of their powers. A dangerous or 

 poisonous acrid juice is their characteristic, which is particularly active in some of them, such as the C61- 

 chicum and Feratrum. The roots of the former are the basis of the eau m<=dicinale, and are now used in 

 cases of gout with much success. The root of Feratrum is believed to have been the hellebore of the ancients, 

 an active drug, which, administered in small doses, is a drastic purgative, in more abundance a violent emetic. 

 The root of Anguillaria dioica, infused in water, is anthelmintic, but, steeped in spirits, yields a bitter and tonic 

 tincture. The leaves of Colchicum and Feratrum often produce vomiting and severe pain in the animals 

 that eat them ; the flowers of the first are also said to be poisonous, and its seeds to possess the same properties 

 as the roots, but in a milder degree. Groves and pastures in Europe and Siberia and North America are the 

 most frequented by Melanthacea?, several are found at the Cape, and Gloriosa is a native of the woods of 

 middle Africa, Division and offsets. 



1031 Bulbocudium L. 



1119 Colchicum L. 



1120 Merendera Bieb. 



1032 Uvularia L. 



1033 Disporum Sal. 



1036 Schelhammera R. Br. 

 1035 Burchard?'a R. Br. 

 1112 Anguillaria R. Br, 



456. ORDER CXCVII I. BROMELIA V CE^E. 



Genera 12, Species 100 ; Hot-house Species 96 ; Green-house Species 4 ; Hardy Ligneous Species ; 



Hardy Herbaceous Species 0. f feet ; feet ; =t feet. 



Of these the eatable pine-apple is the representative, from which the other genera differ more in the want of 

 a fleshy fruit than in general appearance. Their habit is acid, their leaves rigid and toothed with spines, and 

 covered with minute scales, their bracteaa often colored with scarlet, and their flowers either white or blue. 

 They are all natives of tropical countries, with the exception of Tillandsia, which, in the humid woods of 

 Carolina, forms dense festoons among the branches of the trees ; this, like many others of the order, is an 

 epiphyte,vegetating among the black mould that collects upon the bark of trees in hot damp countries ; others 

 are inhabitants of deep and gloomy forests ; and others form, with their spiny leaves, an impenetrable herbage 



