412 LILIACEjE. [Colchicum. 



15. colchicum, L. Meadow Saffron. 



Corm coated. Leaves all radical, usually vernal. Bracts spathaccous. 

 Flowers solitary or fascicled, subsessile on the corm, erect, crocus-like, 

 honeyed, proterogynous ; perianth-tube very long, slender, limb campan- 

 ulate ; segments 6, oblong. Stamens on the mouth of the perianth, 

 included, filaments filiform ; anthers oblong, fixed above the base in front, 

 versatile, bursting inwards. Ovary deeply 3-grooved ; styles 3, free, fili- 

 form, tips recurved, stigmatic inwards ; cells few- or many-ovuled. Cap- 

 sule membranous, 3-grooved to the axis, septicidally 3-valved at the top. 

 Seeds subglobose, testa rugose, funicle fleshy ; embryo minute, remote 

 from the hilum. — Distrib. Europe, N. and E. Asia ; species 30.— Etym. 

 Classical. 



C. autumna'le, L. ; leaves lanceolate, sheaths stout long large. 

 Meadows, from Westmoreland and Durham to Sussex and Somerset, local ; 

 naturalized in Scotland ; Ireland ; fl. Aug.-Oct. — Corm large, oblique, com- 

 pressed ; scales shining, chestnut. Leaves flat, 6-10 in., nerves close-set. 

 Flowers appearing in succession ; ovary subterranean ; perianth-tube 2-6 

 in.; limb 1| in., pale purple. Anthers % in., yellow. Capsule 1-2| in., 

 shortly peduncled, ellipsoid, acute at both ends, ripening in spring. Seeds 

 many, small, pale brown. —Distrib. From Denmark southd.— Yields the 

 famous drug. Flowers, when vernal, greenish and imperfect. 



16. NARTHE'CIUM, Mcehr. . Boo Asphodel, 



Rigid herbs with the habit and leaves of Tofieldia. Flowers racemose, 

 golden-yellow ; perianth-segments subequal, spreading, persistent, erect in 

 fruit. Stamens 6, 3 hypogynous and 3 on the base of the segments, fila- 

 ments subulate villous ; anthers linear, fixed by the back, bursting in- 

 wards. Ovary narrow-ovoid, 3-gonous, narrowed in the short style, stigma 

 obtuse ; cells many-ovuled. Capsule 3-gonous, narrow, pointed, loculi- 

 cidally 3-valved above. Seeds many, terete, testa filiform at each end, 

 attached to the inner angle of the cell by a hair-like funicle ; embryo 

 minute, next the hilum. — Distrib. Europe N. of the Alps and Pyrenees, 

 N. Asia, N. America. — Etym. vap6i\Kiov, a rod. 



N. ossif ragum, Huds. ; perianth-segments linear-oblong. 

 Bogs, N". to Shetland ; ascends to near 3,200 ft. in the Highlands ; Ireland ; 

 fl. July-Aug. — Rootstock wiry, long, slender. Leaves 6-12 in., rigid, strongly 

 ribbed, acuminate. Stem leafless or with 1-2 short |-amplexicaul leaves. 

 Raceme 2-4 in. ; bracts subulate ; pedicels sometimes bracteolate. Flowers 

 5 in. diam. ; segments ribbed and green on the back. Filaments white ; 

 anthers deep-orange. Capsule red, longer than the perianth. — Distrib. Of 

 the genus. 



17. TOFIELD'IA, Huds. 



Rootstock short creeping. Leaves radical, equitant, ensiform. Scape 

 slender ; bracteoles 3, minute, connate. Flowers racemed, small, green, 



