ENDOGENOUS OS MONOCOTYLEDONOUS rLANTS. 



491 



corms, &c. contain starch, with some volatile acrid matter. Those 

 of Iris cristata are very pungent ; tho.se of I. versicolor, &c. are 



drastic. Orris-root is the dried rhizoma of Iris florentina, of South- 

 ern Europe. The true Saffron consists of the dried orange-colored 

 stigmas of Crocus sativus. 



943. Ol'd. AmarjilidaceaJ (Amaryllis Family). Bulbous plants 

 (sometimes with fibrous roots), bearing showy flowers mostly on 

 scapes. Perianth regular, or nearly so ; the tube adherent to the 

 ovary, and often produced above it, six-parted. Stamens six, dis- 

 tinct, with introrse anthers. Stigma undivided or three-lobed. 

 Fruit a three-celled capsule or berry. Seeds with fleshy albumen. 

 — Ex. Amaryllis, Narcissus, Crinum, &c. ; mostly ornamental plants. 

 The bulbs acrid, emetic, &c. : those of Ilamianthus (with whose juice 

 the Hottentots poison their arrows) are extremely venomous. The 

 fermented juice of Agave is the intoxicating Pulque of the Mexicans. 

 Hypoxys, which has been taken as the type of an order, may prop- 

 erly be referred to this family. 



FIG 1230. Iris cristata. 1240. The summit of the style, petaloid stigmns, and 

 1241 Vertical section of the ovary (the equitant leaves cut away) and long tube of the peri- 

 anth. 1242. Cross-section of the pod. 1243. Seed. 1244. Enlarged section of the same, show- 

 iug the embryo, &o. 



