ANDROSTEPHIUM VIOLACEUM.—CROWNED LILY. 17! 
differs in the very short tube of the perianth (the lower portion of 
the flower), in the tube of filaments having only a short tooth 
between the filaments, and in the form of the capsule.” Fut in 
some of the allied genera the length of the tube would not be 
of much consideration. In some unquestioned Millas, for in- 
stance, the “tube of the perianth” is three-fourths the length of 
the whole flower, while in other cases it is no longer than we find 
in the subject of our present chapter. We thus see how diffh- 
cult it will be for the student to decide on the genera of these 
Liliaceous plants, when he collects them for the first time. Asa 
general rule the union or the separation of the parts is regarded 
as among the best characters. The theoretical structure of a 
lily flower is to have three sepals (the usual calyx), three petals 
(the corolla), and a similar series of two sets of three, resulting in 
six stamens and three pistils; and it is chiefly from the manner 
in which these various parts are united or developed in proportion 
to one another, that characters to distinguish the various genera 
are found. Sometimes, as in the ordinary lily flower, the apex 
of the pistil is divided into three distinct parts, but in our plant 
as we see in Fig. 2, the apex is inclined to be capitate, or termi- 
nating in a little pin-like head. This, though there were no other 
characters, would at once suggest to the student that it was not 
a Lilium. Then there may be characters drawn from the 
phases of growth, which, however, are not often referred to in 
botanical works, because so much has to be derived from dried 
specimens wherein these life-characters cannot be observed. In 
many plants the stamens and pistils finish their growth at or 
about the expansion of the corolla; but we see in our plant that 
the pistil is nearly complete long before the stamens, which do 
not take on their peculiar crown-like form until the segments of 
the “perianth” have fully expanded. 
Again, the roots of these plants deserve more study for botan- 
ical characters than they have received. In our specimen there 
were several buds (Fig. 3), which seemed to indicate that new 
corms may be formed by offsets. And then at the base of the 
