498 PART IV. CLASSIFICATION. 



verna and autumnalis, the Squills ; Ornithogalum nutans, the Star of Beth- 

 lehem. 



Sub-order 2. MELANTHIOIDE^E or COLCHICOIDE^E, with a usually septicidal 

 capsule, usually extrorse anthers, and separate styles. Mostly rhizomatous 

 plants. 



Not many genera are common in cultivation ; among these Gloriosa, 

 Uvularia, and Veratrum may be mentioned ; Veratrum album and niyrum 

 have broad ovate leaves. 



Tofieldia palustris, the Scottish Asphodel, has ensiform radical leaves; 

 the flowers, which are pale green, are disposed in a raceme on a scape ; it 

 occurs in Scotland, in wet places on mountains, but it is rare. Narthecium 

 ossifrtigum, the Bog-Asphodel, somewhat resembles Tofieldia, but the 

 flowers are yellow and the capsule is loculicidal ; common in Scotland and 

 in the north of England. 



The Colchicece are bulbous plants and have introrse anthers. Col- 

 chicum autumnale is the Autumn Crocus or Meadow Saffron ; when it is 

 flowering in the autumn, the stem is underground ; it is at this time short 

 and slender (Fig. 309 &'), attached laterally to the corm of the previous 

 year's growth (&), and bears a few imperfectly developed leaves (I' I") as 

 well as one or two flowers (V b") : the ovaries of the flowers are also sub- 

 terranean ; the six leaves of the perianth cohere and form a tube of some 

 centimetres in length, which grows far beyond the ovaries and above the 

 surface of the soil, terminating in a petaloid six-partite limb ; the stamens 

 are attached in the upper portion of the tube. In the spring the under- 

 ground stem swells at its base (&') into a corm, and grows upwards, so that 

 the developing leaves (I' I") and the capsule rise above ground ; a lateral 

 shoot is formed at its base, which, in the autumn, produces the flower. 



Sub-order 3. ASPHODELOIDEJE ; rhizomatous plants, with usually radical 

 leaves, but the leaves are sometimes borne on an aerial rarely branched 

 stem ; inflorescence usually a terminal spike or raceme : perianth-leaves 

 free or connate ; anthers introrse ; fruit capsular. 



Asphodelus, Eremurus, Anthericum, Hemerocallis, Phormium (Phor- 

 mium tenax is the New Zealand Flax), Kniphofia and Aloe", are cultivated. 

 The only British species is Simethis bicolor in the south of England. 



Sub-order 4. ALLIOIDE^E ; generally bulbous plants : inflorescence 

 umbellate, more or less completely enclosed by two or more bracts. 



Agapanthus, Nothoscordum, Milla, Brodisea, and Allium are the more 

 commonly cultivated genera. Of Allium, several species are in cultivation 

 for culinary purposes, as A. Cepa, the Onion ; A. ascalonicum, the Shalot ; 

 A. Schoenoprasum, Chives ; A. Porrum, the common Leek ; A. sativum 

 (vulyare), Garlic. Some species (Wild Garlic) are wild in Britain, such 

 as A. oleracetim, vineale, ursinum, and triquetrum in Guernsey. The leaves 

 of the various species of Allium are generally tubular and hollow ; the 

 flowers are disposed in spherical heads or umbels ; bulbils are occasionally 

 produced among the flowers. Gagea lutea is also British. 



Sub-order 5. DRACJENOIDEJE, stem erect, usually arborescent, with second- 

 ary growth in thickness (see p. 148). 



Species of Yucca are commonly cultivated in gardens; Cordyline and 



