* 





mt- 



ai'ji::, * 



1 



sliire, 



a 



TdmUS.] XCII. DIOSCOREACE^. 443 



2, broadly linear, glaucous-green. Flowers solitary, drooping, elegant, 

 rendering this plant a general favourite. 



3. Leucojum Linn. Snowflake. 



Perianth campanulate, of 6 equal pieces, a little thickened at 

 the point. Anthers opening by a slit near the apex. Seed with 

 a black and shining skin. Floioers from a spatha. — Scape 

 ' hollow, — Named from Xsvkoq^ white, and tov, a violet 



I 



1. L. "^(Bstwum L. {Summer 5.); spatha many-flowered, 

 style club-shaped. E.B. t. 621. 



Moist meadows ; Thames' side, below Greenwich, especially the 

 Kentish shore ; in Suffolk, Berkshire, Westmoreland, Northumber- 

 0^ land, &c. IJ^. 5. — Leaves long, linear, keeled; scape 2-edged. 



^^^^^s Flowers white, drooping. 



»lk 1% , 



fj * ** Leaves with netted veins. (Ord. XCII.) 



Jj' Oed. XCII. DIOSCOREACEiE R.Brown. 



Dioecious. Limb of the perianth with 6 divisions. — Sterile fl. 

 Stamens 6 from the base of the pevhnth. — Fertile Ji. Ovary 

 3-celled; cells 1— 2-seeded. Style deeply trifid. Stigmas un- 

 divided. Fruit dry and flat, with 2 of its cells frequently 

 abortive, or (in Tamus) baccate. Embryo small, near the 

 ^^J^^j M?m, lying in a large cavity of cartilaginous albumen. — 



^^' t Stems twining, shrubby or herbaceous, mostly tropical. Leaves 

 ■^f| ivith reticulated veins. Flowers small, bracteated. ~ Dioscorea 



saliva affords the well-known Yam. 



i 



]l^t 1. Tamus Linn. Black Bryony. 



"^^J Barren /I. Perianth single, in 6 deep segments. — Fertile Jl. 



0^^ Perianth single, superior, in 6 deep segments, contracted at the 



neck. Stigmas 3. Berry of 3 cells. — Name: supposed to be 



the Uva Taminia of Pliny, or Black Bryony. 



^^^^ r 



jinf 1. T. communis L. {common B.) ; leaves undivided cordate 



jore acute. E. B.i.^l. 



_ X 



Hedges and thickets, England. 1^. 5 — 7. — Root very large, 

 acrid, black externally, fleshy. Stems long, twining and reaching 

 among trees and bushes to a great distance. Flowers greenish-white. 

 Berry red. According to the late Dr. Bromfield, this is scarcely 



A indigenous. 



V 6 



