LILT FAMILY. 347 



26. ALLIUM, ONION, LEEK, GAELIC, &c. (Ancient Latin name.) 

 Taste and odor alliaceous. 



§ 1. Wild species of the country, or one a naturalized weed. 



* Leaves bruad : flowers white, in summer : omiles and seeds single in each cell. 

 A. tric6ccuin. Wild Leek. Rich woods N. : bulbs clustered, large, 



pointed, sending up in spring 2 or 3 large lance-oblong flat leaves, and after 

 they wither, in summer, a many-flowered umbel on a naked scape. 



* * Leaves linear, grass-like : ovules and seeds a pair in each cell : flowers rose- 



color, in summer. 



A. cdrnuum. Nodding Wild Onion. Banks, through the Alleghany 

 region and N. W. : scape angular, l°-2° long, often nodding at the apex; 

 pedicels of the loose many-flowered umbel drooping; flowers light rose-color; 

 leaves linear, sharply keeled on tlie back, channelled. 



A. mut^bile, Changeable Wild O. Dry sandy soil S. : scape 1° high, 

 terete, bearing an erect umbel of white flowers changing to rose-color ; leaves 

 narrow, concave; bulb coated with a fibrous network. 



A. viuedile. Field or Crow Gaelic. A weed from Eu. in gardens and 

 cult or waste low grounds ; slender scape sheathed to the middle by the hollow 

 thread-shaped leaves which are grooved down the upper side : flowers greenish- 

 rose-color ; often their place is occupied by bulblets. 



* * * Leaves narrow-linear, grass-like: ovules and seeds several in each cdl: 



flowers nearly white, in spring. 



A. striatum. Low pine barrens and prairies, Virginia to Illinois and S. : 

 scape and leaves 6' - 12' high, the latter involute and striate on the back ; flowers 

 3 - 10 in the umbel. 



§ 2. Cultivated from the Old World: flmvers in summer. 

 * Leaves flat. 



A. Mbly, Golden Gaelic. Cult, for ornament in some gardens : leaves 

 broadly lanceolate ; scape 1° high; flowers numerous, large, golden yellow. 



A. sativum, Garden Garlic. Bulbs clustered, pointed; leaves lance- 

 linear, keeled; flowers few, purple, or bulblets in their place; filaments all 

 broad and 3-cleft. 



A. P6rrum, Garden Leek. Bulb elongated, single ; leaves broadly linear, 

 keeled or folded ; flowers in a head, white, with some rose-colored stripes ; 3 of 

 thefllaments 3-forked. 



« « Leaves cylindrical, hollow : umbel globular, many-flowered. 



A. Ascal6nicum, Schallott. Bulb with oblong ofisets; leaves awl- 

 shaped ; flowers lilac-purple ; 3 of the filaments 3-forked. 



A.- ScIl(Bn6prasuni, Chives. Low, tufted; leaves awl-shaped, equal- 

 ling the scape ; flowers purple-rose-color, its divisions lanceolate and pointed, 

 long; filament simple. 



A. C^pa, Onion. Bulb depressed, large; leaves much shorter than the 

 hollow inflated scape ; flowers white, or bulblets in their place. 



27. SCILL A, SQUILL. (TheancientnameofS.MAEfeMA of S.Europe, 

 the bulb of which is the officinal squill.) 



S. Pr&seri, Wild S. called Wild Hyacinth at the W., Qcamash. 

 Moist banks and prairies from Ohio W. & S. W. : scape and linear-keeled 

 leaves 1° high ; flowers pale blue, in a long loose raceme, in 'spring. 



S. anKBna, S. 'v6rna, &c. are cult, from Europe in some choice collections, 

 for their early bright blue flowers, but are rare. 



28. MUSCABI, GRAPE or GLOBE HYACINTH. (Name from the 

 musky scent of the flowers in one species.) All from Eu. : fl. spring. 



M. botryoides, Common Grape-Hyacinth, of country gardens, es- 

 caping into lawns and fields : a pretty little plant, sending up in early spring 



