694 ORDER UO. AM ARYLLID ACE^E. 



S-fid ; seeds oo, 2 rows in each sell, black. Bulb tunicated, sending up 

 a scape with linear Ivs. Spathe 1-leaved. Fls. erect, showy and beau- 

 tiful. Fig. 315. 



Z. Atainasco Herbt. Spatbo 2-cleft, acute; flowers solitary, pediceled; cor. 

 campanulate, suberect, with the segm. equally spreading above ; filaments much 

 exceading the tube, but shorter than the segments. An attractive ilower, in wet 

 clay soils, Va. to Fla. Lvs. linear, a foot long. Scape round. 6 to 12' high. 

 Spathe a little colored, bifid at the summit. Flower large, white and pink. Se- 

 pals lanceolate, 3 to 3^-' long (including the 1' tube). March (S.), May (N.) 

 (Amaryllis L.). 



4. AGA^YE, L. (Gr. ayavog, admirable.) Perianth tubular-funnel- 

 form, adherent to the ovary, G-parted ; stamens G, cxserted ; anthers 

 jfinear, soon versatile ; capsule coriaceous, obtusely triangular, 3-cellcd, 

 many-seeded. A splendid American genus. Root sometimes ligneous. 

 Stem herbaceous. Lvs. mostly radical, thick and rigid, channeled, 

 often spiny. Scape many-flowered. 



1 A. Virginica L. FALSE ALOE. Acaulescent, herbaceous ; Ivs. linear-lanceo- 

 late, fleshy, glabrous, with cartilaginous serratures on the margin ; scape simple, 

 glabrous, with leaf-like scales and sessile, tubular flowers. Rocky banks, Penu. 

 to Ga. Root premorse, tuberous. Scape 4 to Gf high, terete, glabrous, loosely 

 spicato above. Radical leaves long, acute. Flowers 1' long, greenish-yellow, 

 very fragrant, tube longer than the subulate segments. Anth. long exserted. 

 Capsulo roundish, obscurely 3-angled, 3-furrowed. Sept. f 



2 A. Americana L. AMERICAN ALOE. CENTURY PLANT. Acaulescent; 

 Ivs. spinous-dentate, lanceolate, coriaceous and fleshy ; scape branched, lofty and 

 arborescent ; cor. tube contracted in the middle ; pedicel as long as the corolla. 

 The largest of all herbaceous plants, native of tropical America, often cultivated. 

 It is a popular notion that it flowers but once in a hundred years, but it is known 

 to flower much oftener, according to the culture it receives. Leaves radical, 

 thick, 3 6 or 8f long, 4 12' wide. The scape arises from the center of tho 

 leaves to tho height of 15 to 25f, bearing a pyramidal panicle of innumerable yel- 

 low flowers. There is a variety with striped leaves, f 



5. POLYAE'THES, L. TUBEROSE. (Gr. rroMg, many, dvOsg.) 

 Perianth superior, funnel-form, with a long, curved tube ; filaments in- 

 serted into the throat, included ; ovary at the bottom of the tube, the 

 summit free. Rt. an upright rhizome, thick, producing tubers above. 

 St. terete, solid, simple, co-flowered. 



P. tubercsa L. Lvs. linear-lanceolate ; petals oblong. A green-house plant. 

 Sts. bulbous at base with tuberous branches. Scape scaly, 2 to 3f high, with al- 

 ternate, large, white, regular fls. of a delicious fragrance, which is most powerful 

 at evening. Aug., Sept. f Ceylon. 



6. SPREKE'LIA, Endl. JACOBEA LILY. Perianth adherent 6-leaved, 

 subbilabiate and spreading above ; inner segm. narrower ; stam. 6, in- 

 serted on the ovary, unequal, and with the style declined, but bending 

 up at apex. Bulbous. Scape fistulous, 1 -flowered. Lvs. linear. 



S. formosfssima Herbt. Lvs. radical; fls. nodding, very ringent, tube 

 fringed ; sta. included in the involute lower segments. A splendid flower, grown 

 in light, loamy soil. Leaves thick, oblong, narrow. Scapo a foot high. Spatho 

 red, disclosing a single large flower of a fine dark red color. Jn. Aug. 



7. G ALAN THUS, L. SNOW-DROP. (Gr. ytUa, milk, civOo$', from 

 the color.) Perianth superior, segments distinct, the 3 inner shorter, 

 notched or lobed ; stamens G, inserted on the top of the ovary, erect, 

 included ; style straight, longer than the stamens ; stigma entire ; cap- 



