LEU 



LEU 



LEUCOJUM, a genus cmitaining plants of 

 the bulhoiis-roolcd flov^crv perennial kind. 



It belongs to llie class and order Ilcxaiidria 

 Mnnogynia, and ranks in tlic natural order of 

 Spd/haccce. 



The characters arc: that the calyx is an ob- 

 long, obtuse, compressed spathe, gaping on the 

 flat side, withering : the corolla is bell-shaped- 

 cxpanding : petals six, ovate, flat, conjoined at 

 the base, with the tips thickish and stiffish : 

 the stamina have six setaceous filaments, very 

 short : anthers oblong, obtuse, quadrangular, up- 

 right, distant: the pistillum is a roundish infe- 

 rior germ : style clavate, obtuse : stigma setace- 

 ous, upright, sharp, longer than the stamens : 

 the pericarpium is a top- shaped capsule, th ree-ceil- 

 cd, three-valved : the seeds several, roundish. 



The species cnltivated are : I. L. vernam, 

 Great Spring Snow-drop ; 2. L. cestiuum, Sum- 

 mer Snow-drop : 3. L. autumuale, Autumnal 

 Snow-drop ; 4^. L. struvwsum. Many-flowered 

 Cape Lcucojuni. 



The first has an oblong bulb, shaped like that 

 of the Daffodil, but smaller: the leaves are flat, 

 deep green, four or five in number, broader and 

 longer than those of the Common Snow-drop : 

 the scape angular, near a foot high, hollow and 

 channelled : towards the top comes out a whitish 

 sheath, opening on the side, out of which come 

 out two or three flowers, hanging on slender 

 peduncles : the corolla is much larger than that 

 of the Common Snow-drop ; and the ends of 

 the petals are green. They appear in March, 

 and have an agreeable scent, not much unlike 

 those of the Hawthorn. 



The flowers, which at first sight resemble 

 those of the Common Snow-drop, are easily 

 distinguished by the absence of theThree-leaved 

 Nectarv : they do not come out so soon by a 

 month. It is called by Mr. Curtis, Spring Snow- 

 jftake. It IS a native of Italy, &c. 



The second species has a bulb the size of a 

 Chestnut, somewhat ovate, outwardly paleljrown, 

 inwardly white ; crats numerous, thin, and close- 

 ly compacted. But Miller asserts, that it is nearly 

 as large as that of the Common Dafl'odil, anil 

 very like it in shape : that the leaves also are not 

 unlike those of the Dafi"odil, more in number 

 than in the first, and keeled at the bottom, where 

 thev fold over each other, and embrace the stalk : 

 the leaves arc about a foot and half in length, up- 

 right, nearly linear, almost an inch in breadth, 

 obtuse ; the lower ones shortest : the scape a 

 little higher than the leaves, hollow, slightly flat- 

 ted, two-edged, a little twisted, one side some- 

 times obtuse, the other acute : the peduncles 

 for themoit part five froiu the same sheath, each 

 supporting a single flower, angular, and of un- 



equal lengths : the flowers are pendulous, grow- 

 ing all one way, having little scent : the petals 

 are white, finely grooved within, not at all unit- 

 ing at bottom ; the tips thickish, a little puc- 

 kered, and marked with a green spot. The 

 flowers ajipear at the end of April or the begin- 

 ning of May, and there is a succession of them 

 during three weeks, or longer in cool weather. 

 It is a native of Hangarv, &c. 



To distinguish it from Galanthus, Mr. Curtis 

 names it Summer Snow-Jiake ; and in gardcTis 

 it is known bv the name of Greut Summer Snoiv- 

 drop; Late or Tall Snou'-drop. 



The third has a thick bulb for the size of the 

 plant, composed of many glutinous coats, bitter, 

 covered with a whitish membrane: the scape slen- 

 der, brownish, a hand in height, supporting two or 

 three small white flowers (sometimes only one), 

 hanging down, having no smell. It is distin- 

 guished by its fouror five capillary leaves ; which 

 begin to spring up after the flower is past, when 

 the seeds are ripening, and sometimes after the 

 heads are ripe. They abide all the winter and 

 spring following, and wither away in the begin- 

 ning of summer; leaving the scape to appear 

 naked : the flowers are a little reddish at the 

 bottom next the stalk. It is a native of Portu- 

 gal, flowering in September. 



The fourth has a roundish while bulb, less 

 than a hazel nut : the leaves two or three, in- 

 closed at the base in a white sheath, filiform, 

 dotted with white, keeled at bottom, flat, or a 

 little convex on the back, weak, and more or less 

 lying on the ground : scape flexuose-erect, slen- 

 der, about half a foot high, roundish, termi- 

 nated by a spreading umbel of from three to 

 seven flowers : the valves of the spathe lanceo- 

 late, acute, membranaceous, opposite, sometimes 

 equal, sometimes not, pale: the peduncles fili- 

 form, one flowered, uneijual, from one to two 

 inches in length : flowers without scent, coniing 

 oat successively : petals white within, purpllsa 

 without, obKnig, lanceolate, three lines in length j 

 the three inner bluntisb ; the three outer acute, 

 with a blunt, greenish keel : anthers purple : 

 germ three-cornered, green : style white, swelled 

 out at bottom into a body larger than the germ, 

 plaited at bottom ; thence awl-shaped, bluntly 

 three-cornered, the length of the stamens : stig- 

 ma obscurely trifid : capsule subglobular, thrtte- 

 corncred: the whole plant is smooth. It is a 

 native of the Cape, flowering in November. 



Culture. — These plants are readily increased 

 by oflf-sets from the roots, which should be se- 

 parated from the old roots about every third year, 

 in the summer season, as soon as their leaves 

 begin to decay, in the same manner as other 

 bulbous roots. See Bux-bous Roots. 



