848 



XXXV. EEIOSPEEMB^. 



species, are now fallen into disuse. It is the same with the genera Hyacinthus, Muscari, Ornithogahim, 

 the bulbs of which were formerly used as purgatives and diuretics ; those of Omithogalum altissimuni 

 are still in use at the Cape for asthma and pulmonary catarrhs [those of O. pyrenaicum are sold and 

 eaten at Bath as French asparagus]. The tuberous roots of Anthericum and Asphodelus lose their acridity 

 by desiccation or boiling ; they were formerly considered diuretics and emmenagogues ; the Asphodel 

 (A. ramosus) was used as a substitute for the Squill. Some endeavours have recently been made to 

 extract an alcoholic spirit from its tuberous roots. 



Tulbaghia aUiacea, cepacea, &c., with an alliaceous odour, have thick fibrous roots, which are cooked 

 in milk and administered at the Cape for phthisis and worms. 



XXXV. ERIOSPERME^. 



Eriospe?-mum IcUi/oUum. 

 Flower. 



Perennial hebbs witt tuberous roots. 



Leaves precocious, petioled, rounded, thick, 



■with projecting reticulate nerves ; blade bul- 



billiferous or gemmiparous 



below. Scape growing after 



the decay of the leaves, 



simple, cylindric. Flowers 



5, racemed or panicled; 



pedicels with a scarious 



bract at the base. Peei- 



ANTH petaloid, 6-partite> 



campanulate, persistent. 



Stamens 6, inserted at the 



bottom of the perianth ; 



filaments flat, dilated at the 



base ; anthers sagittate- 



didymous, incumbent. 



OvAET free, with 3 few- 



ovuled cells ; style filiform, 



trigonous; stigma sub-capi- 



tafce, obscurely 3-fid; ovules inserted at the bottom of the cell, ascending, anatropous. 



Capsule membranous, ovoid, trilobed-trigonous, with 3 loculicidal semi-septiferous 



valves. Seeds few or solitary, erect, lanceolate ; testa thin, covered with long silky 



hairs bent back to the chalaza, and longer than the nucleus. 



GENUS. 

 Eriospermum. 



Stemless plants of South Africa. The viUosity of the seeds is the only character which distinguishes 

 Uriospermece from Ziltacec^, a difference which, moreover, is found between the genera of Mahace<e, 

 Termtrmmiacem and Convolvvlacece, but which has not therefore" dissociated them. The tubers of one 

 species, which are scarlet, are used as a topic for the cure of ulcers. 



Eriospen^ium. 

 Ovule. 



Eriospermum. 

 Vertical Beotion oJ fruit. 



