AMARYLLIDACEjE. 



1209. B. toxicaria Ker. Sot. Reg.fol. 139. and t. 567. Hae- 

 manthus toxicarius Hort. Kew. i. 405. Buphane toxicaria Her- 

 bert amar. 239. Amaryllis disticha Linn, suppl. 195. Cape 

 of Good Hope. 



Bulbs ovate-oblong with innumerable, thin, fibrous coatings. Leaves 

 in 2 rows, numerous, erect and diverging, strap-shaped, oblique, glau- 

 cous, smooth at the edge. Scape appearing before the leaves, somewhat 

 compressed, glaucous, bearing an umbel of 200-300 pink flowers, which 

 are much longer than the reflexed spathes. Perianth Ii inch long, 

 funnel-shaped, revolute, regular. Stamens much longer than the 

 perianth, spreading. Ovary 3-cornered, with tumid angles. The 

 viscid juice of the bulbs is a dangerous poison. It is one of the ingre- 

 dients used by the Bushmen to envenom their arrows, and is supposed 

 to add most powerfully to the activity of the poison. 



NARCISSUS. 



Perianth hypocrateriform, with a spreading, 6-parted, regular 

 limb, and an undivided or lobed cup terminating the tube. Sta- 

 mens 6, inserted into the tube in 2 rows below the top of the 

 tube. Ovules numerous, horizontal. Capsule membranous, 

 bursting into 3 valves through the cells. Seeds roundish, with 

 a dark shrivelled coat. 



1210. N. poeticus Linn. sp.pL 414. E. Bot. t. 275. Smith 

 Eng. Fl. ii. 131. Dry Fields in various parts of Europe. 



Bulb ovate, with a dark-brown skin. Leaves 12 to 18 inches long, 

 nearly erect, \ an inch broad, of a rather glaucous deep green, rounded 

 and obtuse underneath ; their edges acute, recurved ; the disk slightly 

 concave, striated with numerous longitudinal veins. Stem about as 

 tall as the leaves, straight, hollow, 2-edged ; rounded at the sides. 

 Bractea brown and dry, cloven, rather longer than the partial stalk. 

 Flower large and very beautiful, powerfully fragrant. Petals pure 

 white. Nectary with a very shallow yellow cup, the border white in- 

 ternally ; of a beautiful crimson next ; and at the extreme edge brownish, 

 filmy, and minutely crenate. Smith. The bulbs have considerable 

 energy as emetics. They are administered occasionally, on the continent 

 in doses of 5-10 grains to produce nausea, and of 30 grains as an emetic. 

 In the form of extract this and other species have been regarded almost 

 as a specific in cases of hooping-cough, in doses of 2 or 3 grains, but 

 although the extract appears sometimes to act with surprising rapidity, 

 effecting a cure in 5 or 6 days, yet it frequently fails, and is thought to 

 be less efficacious than Belladonna. In doses of 2-3 drachms the 

 extract is a deadly poison. 



1211. N. Pseudo-narcissus Linn. sp. 414. E. Bot. t. 17. 

 Smith Eng. Fl. ii. 132. Common in woods and thickets all 

 over the north of Europe. (Daffodil.) 



Bulb nearly globular, with a blackish coat. Leaves several, erect, 

 about a foot high, rather glaucous, with a blunt keel and flat edges. 

 Bractea close to the base of the ovary, undivided. Flowers large, a 

 little drooping, unpleasantly scented. Petals pale yellow, nearly erect, 

 longer than the tube of the cup, which is funnel-shaped, and almost as 



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