"i^HE LILIES OF iMAEABLESHWAR AND OTHERS. 5 



identified at Kew as P. tri/iomm, is found at Mahableshwar. The 

 filaments in this genus, as in Eucharis, Hymenocallis, Eurycies and 

 others, are united to form a membranous cup within the perianth, 

 resembling the crown of the Narcissi. A little yellow star-like flower, 

 scarcely above the ground, is also found at Mahableshwar, which is 

 Curculigo orchioides. Its root, called masli, is valued for medicinal 

 virtues. Mr. Birdwood's catalogue gives Curculigo malabarica also, 

 but this is probably the same. Larger male flowers appear by them- 

 selves and look like a diff'erent species. The only other plant of the 

 order to notice is the common hedge agave. Agave vivipara^ often 

 wrongly called Aloe, which is a lily. The difference between the 

 Amaryllidem and the Liliacece is mainly in the position of the ovary. 

 In flowers of the latter order the immature seed-vessel may be seen 

 standing in the middle of the perianth. In the Amaryllids it is only 

 perceptible as a thickening of the green pedicel or flower-stalk below 

 the perianth. This is very conspicuous in the Crina, the Snowdrop and 

 others. The Iridece and the Scitannnece have the same peculiarity and 

 are placed in the same series with the Amaryllidece, The Orchids 

 have also the ovary inferior, but the seeds being microscopical, it is not 

 conspicuous until the perianth falls off", though it is sometimes coloured 

 like the perianth. Dendrobium speciosum^ a near relation of the early 

 orchid of Mahableshwar, is called in New South Wales the Rock Lily. 

 But the Liliacece, and the Amaryllidece^ though unimportant orders 

 in India, provide us with sufficient flowers of great beauty and interest 

 without going further afield in search of lilies. 



