WITSE'NIA MAU’RA 
DOWNY-FLOWERED WITSENIA. 
ENDOGENA, MONOCOTYLEDONES- 
Natural division “a J 
to which 
{ this plant ic | 
NATURAL ORDER, IRIDACEA, 
¥PIGTNOSE Artificial divisions TRIANDRIA, 
to which MONOGYNIA, 
inner: this Plant belongs. ©F LINNEUS. 
No. 125. 
US. Wrrsenia. THunperc. Perriconivm corollinum su perwai vel 
semisuperum tubulosum, limbi sexfidi laciniis equalibus patentibus vel con- 
niventibus. Stamina tria, perigonii fauci oa: inclusa, filamenta filiformia 
brevissima, anthere-sagittate basifixe. Ovarium inferum vel semi-inferum, 
obsolete trigonum, triloculare. Ovuta sasha in loculorum angulo centrali 
biseriata. Srynuvs filiformis exsertus. Sticma tridentatum vel brevissime 
EMINA plurima angulata. Sorrrurices Capenses, ra 0sa, 
Fp oxeiam ga foliis rams: eg herbaceo, spathia diphyllis unifloris. 
LicHER: Genera Plantarum, p. | 
eee ES. Wrtsenia Maura. TuunsbeRG. SpatHis geminatis, perigonii - 
limbo connivente, laciniis ‘iba externis dorso hirsutis. 
CHARACTER OF THE GENUS, WITSENIA. PERIGON of the consistence 
of a corolla, superior or semi-superior, tubular, the limp six-cleft, the 
divisions equal, spreading or connivent. STAMENs three, inserted in 
the throat of the perigon; the filaments very short and filiform, the 
anthers dart-shaped, fixed by their base. Ovary inferior or semi- 
inferior, obsoletely three-angled, three-celled. OvuLes several, ar- 
ranged in double rows along the central angle. Styxe filiform, longer 
than the corolla. SricMma three-toothed or very shortly three-cleft. 
CapsuLe cartilaginous, three-angled, three-celled, three-valved. SEEps 
several, angled. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE Species, WITSENIA MAURA. SHRUB, from 
two to five feet high, the stem divided. Leaves clasping the stem, 
distichous, ensate, pointed, striate, glaucous, numerous on the upper 
part of the stem, six inches or more in length. SprKe terminal, 
shorter than the leaves. SpaTHE one-flowered, almost sessile in the 
axil of a lanceolate keeled bractea; each spathe consists of two 
valyes about an inch and a half long, bifid at the top and inclosed at 
the base in three or four spathiform imbricate bracts, of which the 
