THE ASPHODEL TRIBE. 231 



circumstance as a fundamental distinction from which 

 your analysis may be continued. Let us now proceed 

 to some orders in which the ovary is superior. 



The Hyacinth, Squill, Onion, Star of Bethlehem 

 (Ornithogalum) and Asphodel, belong to a natural 

 order, called the Asphodel tribe, which is remarkable 

 for the extreme simplicity of the structure of all its 

 parts. Three sepals, and three petals of similar form, 

 size, and colour, six stamens, and a superior three- 

 celled ovary, which changes to a fruit containing seeds 

 with a black brittle skin (Plate XIX. 1.), form the 

 essential character, and combine a large number of 

 plants, generally quite harmless, and in the majority 

 of cases remarkable for either their use or their 

 beauty. It is difficult to single out any one species 

 better fitted than another to illustrate the Asphodel 

 tribe, so uniform are they in the more important 

 points of organization. I happen to have at hand 

 the Streaked Onion (Allium striatum), but you may 

 take with equal advantage the common Onion, or any 

 of the others, I have above named, for the purpose 

 of study. 



The leaves and flowering stems of this plant, rise 

 from a subterranean roundish fleshy body, formed of 

 scales wrapped closely over each other. The scales 

 are of the same nature as those of a bud, namely, the 

 rudiments, or the bases of leaves ; and the body itself, 

 called a bulb, is a kind of underground bud ; hence 

 you will perceive that when one talks of Hyacinth 

 roots which are placed in glasses, or of the roots of 

 Onion, Garlic and Shallots, an incorrect kind of 



