PLATE CXLI. 



CYANELLA CAPENSIS. 



Cape Cyanella. 



CLASS VI. ORDER I. 

 HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA Six Chives. One Pointal. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Calyx nullus. 



Corolla. Petala lex, unguibus eohaerentia, 

 oblonga, concava, patulaj tribus interiori- 

 bus propendentibus. 



Stamina. Filaments lex, bafi contigua, bre- 

 viflima, patentiufcula ; infimo declinato. 

 Antherarum quinque oblongae, curvatse, 

 erectae, apice dehifcentea dentibus quatuor 

 obtufis ; altera vero declinata, maxima, 

 apice bifida. 



Pistillum. Germen trigonum, obtufum. Sty- 

 lus filiformis, declinatus, longitudine infimi 

 ftaminis. Stigma acutiufculum. 



Pericarpium. Capfula fubrotunda trifulcata, 



trilocularis, trivalvis. 

 Semina plura, oblonga. 



Empalement, none. 



Blossom. Six petals, adhering by the claws, 

 oblong, concave, spreading; the three in- 

 terior ones hanging forwards. 



Chives. Threads fix, contiguous at the bafe, 

 very fhort, fpreading a little; the lower one 

 bent down. Five of the tips are oblong, 

 curved, upright, fplitting at the end, with 

 four obtufe teeth; but the other is bent 

 down, very large, and two-cleft at the end. 



Pointal. Seed-bud three tided, obtufe. Shaft 

 thread -fhaped, bent downward, and the 

 length of the lower chive. Summit rather 

 iharp-pointed. 



Seed-vessel. Capfule roundifh, three-furrowed, 

 three cells, three valves. 



Seeds many, oblong. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Cyanella caule foliofo, paniculato; racemis di- 

 varicatis ; foliis lanceolatis, undulatis; rlo- 



ribus coeruleis. 



Cyanella with a leafy ftem growing into a pani- 

 cle; branches ftraddling; leaves lance- 

 fhaped, and waved; flowers blue. 



REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 



1 . The Chives and Pointal, natural fize, the petals of the bloilbm cut aw ay 



2. The Chives and Pointal, magnified. 



3. The fame thrown open, to fhew their connection at the bafe. 



4. The Pointal and Seed-bud, magnified. 



The Cape Cyanella has been long known in many herbariums, and to moft botanifts by name, but we 

 much queftion whether a living plant has, till now, been feen in our gardens. The defcription, in 

 his dictionary, of a plant cultivated by Miller in lj6S, where he fays, " the leaves are long, narrow, 

 " with a groove on the upper fide, the peduncle anting immediately from the root, fupporting one 

 " flower, of a fine blue colour;" fnrely can have no connection with our plant, but in the colour of 

 its bloffom. From every appearance of the plant, even in an abortive fpecimen, more than one flower 

 muft be produced, if any. It is enumerated, in the Kew Catalogue, as one of the fpecies of Cyanella ; 

 but, we fuppofe, only from an accepted idea, that the plant defcribed by Miller was the C. capenfis; 

 and, as having been cultivated in Britain, might be therefore introduced with propriety into the book, 

 though it had never graced the garden; otherwife, if this plant, which is inconteftibly the true C. ca- 

 penfis of Linnaeus, had ever been feen in the Royal Gardens, no affinity would have been traced to 

 that of Miller. 



' A few fmall inaccuracies occur in the generic character of this Genus, which we" have rectified; 

 one is, that the inner, and not the outer petals, are thofe which hang forward; the others may be ob- 

 ferved by thofe, who may confider them worthy notice. This fpecies is a bulbous-rooted plant, flow- 

 ering freely in the green-houfe; although the roots had been received, late in the feafon, from the 

 collector for theHibbertian Collection now at the Cape; which, perhaps, is the reafon the flowers are 

 produced at this time of the year (February). Mr. Allen informs us, that, it has had no other treat- 

 ment, than what is given to Cape bulbs in general. From the fwelled appearance of the feed-veffels 

 we have little doubt of ripe feeds being produced. 



