XILTACE^. 527 



slender stem, about tlie same height, bearing 2 or 3 short naiTow leaves and 

 a single terminal white flower. Perianth-segments about 4 or 5 lines long, 

 spreading, broadly oblong, marked inside with 3 longitudinal reddish 

 hnes, and a small yellow spot at theii- base. Stamens shorter than the 

 perianth, and inserted at its very base. 



In rocky mountains, in northern and Arctic Eui-ope, Asia, and America, 

 and in the high mountain-ranges of Europe, tlie Caucasus, and Altai. Very 

 rare in Britain, and only in some of the higher mountains in North Wales. 

 Fl. Jxine. 



IX. GAGEA. GAGEA. 



Bulbous herbs, with 1 or 2 radical leaves, and a short stem, with a ter- 

 minal raceme of yellow flowers flattened into a corymb, with a leaf-like 

 green bract under each pedicel, and sometimes a leaf below the flowers. 

 Perianth spreading, with distinct segments. Stamens inserted at their very 

 base, with filiform, not flattened filaments. Seeds of Ornithogalvm. 



A small European and Asiatic genus, closely allied to Ornithogahim, 

 with which it was formerly united, but distinguished by the stamens, the 

 yeUow flowers, and more leafy bracts. 



1. Yellow Gagea. Gagea lutea, Ker. 

 {Ornithogalum, Eng. Bot. t. 21.) 



Bulbs small, forming usually two new ones every year, one on each side 

 of the old one. Leaves 1 or very rarely 2, linear, pointed and curved hke 

 those of a Tulip. Stem slender, rarely 6 inches high. Flowers 3 or 4, in 

 a flat raceme, almost contracted into an umbel ; the leaf-like bracts as long 

 as the pedicels or longer. Perianth-segments about 6 lines long, very 

 spreading, narrow-oblong, yellow, with a green back. 



In meadows and fields, especially in sandy soUs, over the greater part of 

 Europe and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Occurs in several 

 parts of England, and the Lowlands of Scotland, but rarely, and not found 

 in Ireland. Fl. spring. Continental botanists distinguish as species several 

 forms, according as to whether there are 1, 2, or 3 bulbs at the time of 

 flowering (if one only, it is the old bulb still remaining entire, the new 

 ones commencing only, or not yet visible ; if 3, the 2 new ones are fully 

 formed, spreading out horizontally before the old one is absorbed ; if 2, the 

 old one is fully absorbed, leaving only a shrivelled stem between the 2 new 

 ones), and some shght diflferenees in the bi-eadth, and obtuse or pointed 

 ends of the perianth-segments, and it is probable that similar variations 

 may be found in the British specimens. 



X. ORNITHOGAI.U]y[. ORNITHOGALUM. 



Bulbous herbs, with the leaves all radical, and not sheathing the stem. 

 Flowers white or partly green, in a terminal raceme, viith a scarious bract 

 under each pedicel. Perianth very spreading, with distinct segments, re- 

 maining persistent after fading. Stamens almost free fi'om the perianth, 

 with flattened filaments. Seeds few, black, nearly globular. 



A considerable genus, chiefly European, west Asiatic, and African, only 



