148 HEXANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Hyacinthus. 



, merous, of a shining, pale, slightly glaucous, green, linear, point- 

 ed, channelled, keeled, flaccid ; upright in their lower half, then 

 reflexed and drooping. Stalk taller than the foliage, round, cen- 

 tral. Cluster partly upright, drooping in the upper half, of many 

 pendulous, blue, sv/eet-scentedjlowers, each nearly an inch long. 

 Bracteas lanceolate, tapering, in pairs, unequal, longer than the 

 partial stalks. Cor. of a tubular bell-shape. Stam. united with 

 the petals half way up. Germ, ovate, angular, without any ho- 

 ney-bearing pores. Style about the same length, deciduous, 

 except the very base. Stigma abrupt. The most decisive cha- 

 racter of Hyacinthus, a monopetalous corolla, to say nothing of 

 the nectariferous pores, is wanting in this plant ; and whoever 

 attends to natural genera, without which there can be no idea 

 of natural orders, must perceive its agreement with every cha- 

 racter and indication of Scilla. So closely is it allied to S. cam- 

 panulata of Banks and Solander, Willd. v. 2. 128, that few per- 

 fectly distinct species of any natural genus can better exemplify 

 such a genus. Hence it is no less clearly associated with other 

 Scillce. Jussieu has proposed removing it from Hyacinthus, 

 though he, from theory, considers the corolla as merely divided 

 into 6 deep segments. The slightest examination will prove it 

 of 6 petals, as distinct as in almost any flower whatever. 



192. HYACINTHUS. Hyacinth. 



Linn. Gen. 170. Juss. 52. Tourn. t. 180. Lam. t. 238. 

 Muscari. Tourn. t. 180. 



Nat. Ord. see n. J 90. 



Cal. none. Cor. inferiorj of 1 petal, deciduous ; tube some- 

 what bell-shaped, or globose ; limb in 6 deep, regular, 

 reflexed segments, shorter than the tube. " Nectary 3 

 pores upon the germen." Linn. Juss. Filam. awl- 

 shaped, equal, proceeding from the tube, and inclosed 

 within it. Anth. oblong, converging. Germ, superior, 

 roundish, with 3 angles, and 3 furrows. Style simple, 

 erect, shorter than the tube, deciduous. Stigma obtuse. 

 Caps, roundish, with 3 rounded angles, or 3 lobes, 3 

 cells, and 3 valves with central partitions. Seeds few, 

 globose. 



Bulb coated, roundish. Leaves radical, linear. Cluster 

 stalked, many-flowered. Petals blue; varying by cul- 

 ture to white, red, or even yellow. Fl. in some sweet- 

 scented, in some fetid, or nauseous. The monopetalous 

 corolla distinguishes this genus from the last. Its species 

 are among themselves more discordant than those of 

 Scilla. 



