SECT. II 



PHANEROGAMIA 



467 



the earth with a carpet of purple, red, yellow and orange flowers only to disappear 



on the first approach of the 

 dry season, the underground 

 portions alone remaining alive. 

 Many Liliaceae are cultivated 

 as vegetables — Asparagus offi- 

 cinalis, asparagus ; Allium 

 Oepa, onion ; A. sativum, Eng- 

 lish garlic; A. Schoenoprasum, 

 chives ; A. ascalonicum, shal- 

 lots. Other Liliaceae are 

 familiar as ornamental plants : 

 the various species of Tulip, 

 Hyacinths, Lilium, Scilla, 



Fig. 403. — ColcMcum autwnmale. a, Flowering plant 

 (J nat. size) ; &, leafy shoot with fruit (i nat. size). 

 — Poisonous and Officinal. 



Fritillaria, Yucca, Dracaena, Aloe, etc. 



Poisonous. — Oolchicum autumnale, 

 Meadow Saffron (Fig. 403). It possesses a 

 subterranean tuber, which gives rise to 

 the rose-coloured, funnel-shaped flowers in 

 August or September, followed in the succeeding spring by the leaves and fruit • 

 at other seasons of the year the plant exists only in the form of a tuber. The 



-Paris quadrifolia ( 

 Poisonous. 



nat. size).- 



