18 HANDBOOK OF BKOMELIACE.T]. 



5. DiSTEGANTHUS Lcmairp, 



Calyx niiited in a distinct cylindrical tube above tbe ovary ; 

 segments small, ovate, not spine-pointed. Petals oblong-unguicu- 

 late, free to the base not scaled, much longer than the calyx, 

 spreading widely when fully expanded. Stamens much shorter than 

 the petals, 3 inserted at the base of the petals, 3 at the throat of the 

 calyx-tube; filaments short, filiform; anthers oblong, dorsifixed. 

 Ovary inferior, turbinate, 3-celled ; ovules 3-4 in a cell, inserted 

 near the top of the placenta ; style filiform ; stigmas linear, 

 spirally twisted. Fruit oblong, baccate. — Nearest CryptantJuis^ but 

 readily known by its lateral inflorescence. 



1. D. BAsiLATERALis Lemaire in Flore des Serres, t. 227 (M.D.). 

 — Rhizome wide-creeping. Leaves 6-10 in a sessile rosette; 

 petiole 2-3 in. long, deeply channelled, armed with small spines ; 

 blade cordate-oblong, acute, 6-12 in. long, 2-3 in. broad, mode- 

 rately firm in texture, plain green on the face, persistently white- 

 lepidote on the back ; marginal prickles minute. Flowers in 

 several dense oblong spikes, 2-3 in. long, direct from the 

 rhizome outside the rosette of leaves ; outer bracts multiserial, 

 ovate, eroso-dentate, f-1 in. long, reddish, turning brown, closely 

 imbricated. Calyx including the ovary cylindrical, pilose, above an 

 inch long ; segments Ungulate, ^ in. long. Petals bright yellow, 

 the oblong blade protruding ^ in. from the calyx. 



Hab. French Guiana. Introduced into cultivation by Melinon in 1846. 

 Described from plants that flowered at Kew in Feb., 1877, and with Mr. J. T. 

 Peacock, in Nov., 1879 ; and a dried specimen from a plant sent by Leprieur 

 flowered in the Paris Garden in July, 1849. 



6. Ortgiesia Begel, 



Sepals lanceolate, narrowed gradually to a large cusp, united in 

 a distinct cup above the apex of the ovary, Petals lingulate, scaled 

 at the base, little longer than the sepals, spreading but little when 

 expanded. Stamens 8, inserted at the throat of the calyx-tube, 3 

 at the base of the petals ; filaments filiform, much shorter than the 

 petals ; anthers linear-oblong, dorsifixed. Ovary inferior, clavate or 

 oblong 3-celled ; ovules many in a cell ; style filiform ; stigmas 

 linear, much twisted. Fruit small, indehiscent. — Inflorescence a 

 dense spike or capitulum in the centre of rosette of ensiform leaves 

 of rigid texture. Flowers bright red. Habit and leaves of IViodo- 

 stachys, from which it differs by its long twisted stigmas and lance- 

 olate mucronate sepals, united in a distinct cup above the ovary. 

 The two species are both like FJwdostachys and Hechtia, half-hardy. 



1. 0. TiLLANDsioiDEs Ecgel, Gartenfl. 1867, 193, t. 547 (M.D.). 

 JEclimea Ortyiesii Baker in Journ. Bot. 1879, 236. — Leaves about 30 

 in a sessile rosette, ensiform from an oblong base, a foot long, ^ in. 

 broad at the middle, arcuate, moderately firm in texture, very 

 acuminate, obscurely lepidote and channelled down the green face, 

 thinly lepidote on the back, the marginal prickles minute. Flowers 



