XXXVIII. MELANTHACE^3. 849 



XXXVI. CONANTHERE^ Don. 



Stemless HERBS, natives of Peru and Chili. BOOT tubero-bulbous, with fibrous 

 coats ; scape branched, bracteate. FLOWERS $ , blue, panicled. PERIANTH petaloid 

 adhering to the ovary by its base ; limb 6-partite, spirally twisted after flowering' 

 and then detaching transversely above its base. STAMENS 6, inserted on the perianth;' 

 filaments compressed, short, glabrous ; anthers basifixed, connivent in a cone, opening 

 by a pore at the top. OVARY sub-adherent, of 3 many-ovuled cells; style filiform ; 

 stigma simple. CAPSULE loculicidally 3-valved. SEEDS globose. 



GENERA. 

 Conanthera. Cummingia. Zephyra, &c. 



XXXVII. GILLIESIE^E, Lindley. 



PLANTS of Chili. Bulbous glabrous HERBS. LEAVES radical, linear. FLOWERS 

 5 , inconspicuous, arranged in an umbel with a double coloured involucre. PERIANTH 

 greenish, fleshy, sometimes with 3 2-labiate leaflets (Gilliesia) ; sometimes regular, 

 urceolate, 6- toothed (Miersia}. STAMENS 6, sometimes adnate to the base of the 

 perianth, and united into a cup, the 3 posterior sterile (Gilliesia); sometimes minute, 

 inserted at the throat of the perianth (Miersia). OVARY of 3 many-ovuled cells; 

 style filiform ; stigma capitate. CAPSULE with 3 semi-septiferous valves. SEEDS 

 with a crustaceous black testa. 



GENERA. 

 Gilliesia. Miersia. 



XXXVIII. MELANTHACE^E. 



, Batsch. MELANTHACE^E, Br. COLCHICACE^E, D.C. 

 VERATRE^E, Salisbury.) 



FLOWERS $ . PERIANTH sub-herbaceous or petaloid, G-merous, 2-seriate, (estivation 

 imbricate or valvate. STAMENS 6, inserted at the base or throat of the perianth ; ANTHERS 

 dorsiftxed, usually extrorse. OVARY superior, or rarely semi-inferior, of 3 many-ovuled 

 cells; STYLES 3. FRUIT of three follicles, rarely a capsule, very rarely a berry. SEEDS 

 albuminous. EMBRYO small, included. STEM or SCAPE herbaceous. LEAVES radical 

 or alternate. 



Perennial HERBS with bulbous or tuberous roots, rarely of fascicled fibres, some- 

 times with a horizontal rhizome. STEM or SCAPE annual, simple, or very rarely 

 branched, often shortened, or subterranean. LEAVES all radical, or the cauline 

 alternate, sometimes Grass-like or setaceous ; bumotimes large, nerved, entire, sessile, 



3 I 



