214 ENGLISH BOX ANT. 



Lenormantl from Professor Boreau, as his A. olcraceum and A. oom- 

 lilanatuin; the former has narrower and more listulose leaves, the 

 latter broader and flatter leaves than any of the British examples. 



From the same source I received a plant under tlie name of A. 

 paniculatum, from Angers. This I have no doubt is merely a wholly 

 capsuliferous form of A. oleraceum. It is certainly not the A. pani- 

 culatum of most authors. 



lieichenbach, in his " Icones," appears to have confounded A. olera- 

 ceum var. complanatum with the very distinct A. cariiiatum, Linn. 

 His description and the main figure of his plate are unquestionably the 

 ibrmer; but the detached flower with greatly exserted stamens has 

 evidently been drawn from the true A. carinatum, which he figures 

 under the name of violaceum on the same plate. 



Field Garlic. 

 French, Ail deg lieux cultives. German, Gemiise-Lauch. 



The Gariic used in cooking is not the native species, but one indigenous to the 

 south of France and Sicily, and is known as Allinm sativum. It was introduced in 

 1548, but appears to have been well known to the ancients, and formed a favourite 

 dish among the Greeks and Romans. The tender leaves of the native species are 

 often boiled in soups or fried with other herbs. Dr. Withering tells us that the 

 smell of Garlic is so much disliked bj moles, that to get rid of them it is sufficient 

 to introduce a few heads of the plant into their subterranean holes. 



Section III.— SCHCENOPRASUM. Auct. 



Destitute of an extensive creeping rhizome. Bulbs aggregated, rarely 

 solitary, elongate. Stem apparently leafy, from the leafsheaths sur- 

 rounding it, but frequently with only a single leaf, or sometimes 

 leafless. Perianth segments connivent at the base, often recurved 

 at the apex. Stamens more or less monadelphous, rarely free; fila- 

 ments simple, subulate or the 3 interior dilated at the base, or rarely 

 3-cuspidate. Spathe with a very short non-foliaceous beak, 2-valved. 



SPECIES VI.— A LLIUM SCHCENOPRASUM. "Linn." Awt. 

 Plates MDXXXVII. MDXXXVIII. 



Bulbs attached to a very short rhizome, aggregated by twos or 

 threes, lanceolate-conical. Leaves terete, widely fistulose, dull green 

 or glaucous, usually one or two of them sheathing the base of the 

 stem; the barren bulbs with 1 to 4 leaves. Scape cylmdrical. Spathe 

 2-valved, globose, scarious, coloured, abruptly acuminated into a very 

 short conical apiculus. Flowers numerous, erect, in a dense hemi- 

 spherical-tui'binate umbel with short pedicels, destitute of head- 



