28o SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



Aphyllanthes L. 



The only species is : 

 Aphyllanthes monspeliensis L. 



A remarkable plant, 6-10 inches high, tufted and with hard root- 

 stock and fibrous roots. Stem naked, slender, rush-like. Leaves 

 reduced to scaly sheaths at the base of the stem. Flowers blue, 

 rarely white, star-shaped, with 6 spreading segments united at the 

 base into a tube. Stamens unequal, inserted near the base of the 

 petals, with glabrous filiform filaments. Stigma trifid. Capsules 

 within a scaly involucre, trigonous, acuminate. 



Dry, hilly places in the South, especially on limestone. April to 

 June. 



Distribution.— So\}Lth.eni France, Pyrenees, Spain and Portugal, 

 N. Italy ; N. Africa. 



Not strictly sub-alpine, this pretty little plant ascends to about 

 2000 feet on the Col di Tenda and on limestone hills in the south 

 of France. See note by the author in Gard. Chron., March i6th, 1912. 



Allium L. Onion. 

 Flowers in rounded umbels, surrounded by a membranous 

 spathe. Perianth-segments distinct. Foetid herbs with radical 

 leaves and a usually naked scape. 



Allium Victor ialis L. 



Rootstock as thick as the finger, sheathed, 2-3 inches long. Stem 

 i-i^ feet high, leafy nearly to the middle, naked and angular above. 

 Leaves elliptical or lanceolate, narrowed into a short leaf-stalk, 

 with a long sheath, persistent. Leaves 3-8 inches long, 1-3 inches 

 broad, grass-green. Perianth whitish green, funnel-shaped. 

 Stamens longer than perianth. Umbel globular, fertile, large. 



Pastures and rocky, bushy places in the calcareous Alps ; local. 

 June to August. 



Distribution. — Carpathians, Riesengebirge ; Eastern, Central, 

 and Western Alps ; Jura, Vosges, Black Forest, Cevennes, Pyrenees, 

 Caucasus, Northern Asia, N. America. 



Allium Schmnoprasum L. Chives. (Plate XV.) 



About a foot high. Umbel contracted into a dense globular head 

 of rather large purple-pink flowers. Perianth-segments very 

 pointed. Stamens longer than the perianth. Spatha of 2 or rarely 

 3 coloured bracts, shorter than the flowers. Leaves very narrow, 

 hollow. 



Rocky and damp pastures, etc., in the sub-Alps and hUls. June 

 to August. 



Distribution. — Europe, Western and Northern Asia, N. America. 

 British. 



