Gont/anthes.'] burmanniace;e. 365 



divided into 3 or 3 1-flowered branches. Leaves replaced by minute scales. 

 Perianth narrow-tubular, about 3 lines long, with 8 prominent angles, often 

 dilated into narrow sinuate wings. Outer lobes short, ovate ; inner ones very 

 minute. 



Among long grass, on the slope of Mount Gough, Wilford. In Burmah and Tavoy. 



Order CXIII. IRIDEiE. 



Flowers hermaphrodite, regular or irregular. Perianth superior, with 6 

 petal-like segments. Stamens 3, inserted at the base of the segments. Anthers 

 erect, opening outwards. Ovary inferior, 3-celled, with several ovules in each 

 cell. Style single, with 3 stigmas, sometimes dilated and petal-like or fringed. 

 Capsule opening loculicidally in 3 valves. Seeds albuminous, with a small 

 embryo, the radicle next to the Tiihim. — Herbs with usually a tuberous, creep- 

 ing, or bulbous rhizome. Leaves usually either radical or equitant, that is, 

 alternately sheathing on opposite sides of the stem, and vertically, not hori- 

 zontally, flattened. Mowers usually termiual, solitary or in spikes, racemes, 

 or panicles. 



A lai-ge Order, consisting chiefly of natives of the temperate regions of the northern he- 

 misphere, or of southern A&ica, with a few tropical or Australian species. 



1. PARDANTHUS, Ker. 



Perianth of 6 equal spreading segments. Stamens nearly straight ; stig- 

 matic lobes linear, dilated upwards and channelled. Seeds globular, succulent 

 and berry-like. 



A genus limited to a single species. 



1. P. chinensiSj Ker. in Keen. Ann. Bot. i. 317. Rhizome thick and 

 fleshy. Stems erect, 3 to 5 ft. high, with equitant leaves, 8 in. to 1 ft. long 

 or more. Mowers orange-coloured, spotted with crimson, in a terminal pani- 

 cle, with clustered, stiff, divergent branches, of very miequai length. Bracts 

 sheathing, more or less scarious. Perianth-segments oblong, about 1 in. long. 

 — Ixia ehinensis, Bot. Mag. t. 171. 



On the sandy sea-beach at Saywan, GAampion. In similar situations in Formosa, and 

 said to be also wild in the mountains of northern India ; also much cultivated in gardens both 

 in India and China. 



Oedee CXIV. AMARTLLIDE^. 



Perianth superior, of 6 divisions, lobes, or teeth, aU or the 3 inner ones 

 coloured and petal-like. Stamens 6, inserted on the perianth. Anthers opening 

 inwards. Ovary inferior, 3-ceUed, with several, or rarely 1 or 2 ovules in 

 each cell. Fruit a capsule or berry. Seeds albuminous. Embryo straight or 

 nearly so. — Herbs, usually perennial, either bulbous or with a tufted or tuber- 

 ous stock. Leaves entire, paraUel-veined. Mowers solitary or in umbels, 

 clusters, or spikes, with sheathing membranous bracts. 



A considerable Order, dispersed over the greater part of the world, but most numerous in 

 tropical America aud S. Africa. 



