SISTRINCHIQM. 



June to Auguft. The roof is an ovate bulb, with numerous, 

 very thick and flefhy, fibres. Leaves radical, ftalked, ercft, 

 from one to two feet long, taper-pointed, fmooth, dark- 

 green, with many longitudinal parallel ribs and plaits. Sla/i 

 folitary, taller than the leaves, very fmooth and round, 

 bent obliquely, and horizontally at the top, where it bears 

 feveral white, inodorous, fliort-lived j^oTOtrj-, hardly an inch 

 broad, accompanied by one fmall ereft leaf. Anthers yellow. 

 Linnxus unaccountably confounded this with his true Spal- 

 mifoHum, hereafter defcribed. 



2. S. elegans. Yellow Green-fpotted Sifyrinchium. 

 Willd. n. I. (Morxa elegans; Jacq. Hort. Schoenbr. 

 V. I. 6. t. 12.) — Stalk round, fimple, fheathed, fingle- 

 flowered, ihorter than the fohtary, linear, decumbent, radi- 

 cal leaf. Petals oblong, acute. — Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope ; flowering in a grcenhoufe in May. Bulbs 

 the fize ot ha7,i:l-nuts, each bearing a long, narrow, de- 

 cumbent, ribbed, green leaf, and an ereA Jlalk, about a 

 fpan high, clothed with many large, alternate, (heathing, 

 rather tumid, braSeas. The iolitary terminal^oTOfr is full 

 two inches broad, of a bright yellow ; the diDc of each of 

 the three outer petals marked with a broad green fpot, 

 highly ornamental. Thi^ and the foUowuig have not the 

 true comprefied bivalve yZc/7/A of the genus. 



3. &. criUiiium. Tawny Sifyrinchium Cavan. Did. 346. 

 Willd. 11. 2. Redout. Liliac. t. 250. (Moraea collina ; 

 Thunb. Morsea n. 13. Prodr. II. Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 226.) 

 — Stalk round, fheathed, fomewhat branched, (horter than 

 its Imear, pouited, afcending leaf. Petals oblong, acute. 

 Plentiful on hills at the Cape of Good Hope. Taller than 

 the lall, with a hrd^nched Jlalk, bearing about three Jloivers, 

 either of a tawny blufhcolour, or pale buff, unlpotted. 

 The Uaf, which grows from the lower part of the Italk, 

 ftands erect, its point drooping over the uppermolt flower. 



^. S>. grandyiorum. Lariie-flowered Sifyrinchium. Cavan. 

 Did'. 346. t. 192. f. 2. Willd. n. 3. — Stalk round, fimple, 

 leafy. Sheath with about three flowers. Petals obtule, 

 pointlefs. Leaves lanceolate, plaited. Native of Peru. 

 Bulb ovate, an inch long, with capillary fibres. Stem a 

 foot high, jointed, bearing three or four ft:alked leaves, 

 from three to ten uiciies in length. Flowers an inch and a 

 half broad, with obovate petals, yellow in the dried fpeci- 

 men. Column of the Jlamens meafuring near an inch. 

 Cavanilles. 



5. S. Bermudiana. Iris-leaved Sifyrinchium. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1353, /5. Willd. n. 4. Ait. n. 2. Cavan. Did". 346. 

 t. 192. f. I. Mill, lllnftr. t. 73. Redout. Liliac. t. "149. 

 (S. iridioides ; Curt. Mag. t. 94. Bermudiana iridis foho, 

 radice fibrofa ; Dill. Elth. 48. t. 41. f. 48.) — Stalk two- 

 edged, branched, leafy. Sheath fhorter than its four 

 flowers. Petals pointed. Leave.? fword fliapcd. — Native 

 of the Bermuda idands. Common in our itoves or green- 

 houfes fince the time of Dillcnius, flowering in fummer. 

 The root is fibrous, perennial. Plant eredt, about a foot 

 high, Imooth, with a narrow compreded Jlem and leaves. 

 Flowers numerous, an incli wide, dark blue, pale green in 

 the centre, on dender partial (talks. 



6. S. anctps. Narrow-leaved Sifyrinchium. Cavan. 

 Did. 345. *. 190. f. 2. Willd. n. 5 Alt. n. 3. Purdi 

 I). 2. (S. Bermudiana ; Linii. Sp. PI. 1353, a. S. pra- 

 mineum ; Curt. Ma . t. 464. Redout. Liliac. t. 282. 

 Bermudiana graminea, flore iiilnore cxruleo; Dill. Elth. 49. 

 t. 41. f. 49.) — Stalk two edged, winged, unbranclied, 

 nearly leaflcls. Sheath unequal, longer than its four 

 flowers. Petals pointed. Leaves fword- diaped. — Native 

 of North America. On dry hills and grafs-plats; from 

 Canada to Carolina, flowering in July and Augull. Purjh. 



Hardy in our gardens, but feldom preferved, l\\c flowers 

 being fo much fmaller and lefs confpicuous than the former. 

 The whole plant is about half the fize of that fpecies, of 

 a grafl'y afpefl ; the root crowned with numerous fibres, 

 from the decayed foliage of former feafons. 



7. S. miicronatum. Pointed-fheathed Sifyrinchium. Mi- 

 chaux Boreal-Amer. v. 2. 33. Purdi n. i. — Stalk un- 

 branclied, fomewhat fetaceous as well as the leaves. Sheath 

 coloured ; one valve ending in a long point. In wet mea- 

 dows of diort grafs, in Pennfylvania and Virginia, flower- 

 ing in June and July. Perennial. Flowers of a beautiful 

 blue, fmaller than the lail. PurJh. The lower part of 

 the leaves and thejheaths are purple. Michaux. 



8. S. jrjcranlhum. Small-flowered Sifyrinchium. Cavan. 

 Difl". 345. t. 191. f. 2. Willd. n. 6. — Stalk two-edged, 

 branched, leafy. Sheath about equal to its two or three 

 flowers. Petals linear, pointed. Leaves channelled. — 

 Gathered by Jofeph de Juflieu in Peru. — Root fibrous. 

 Whole plant but three inches high. I^eaves feveral, linear, 

 pointed, concave or channelled, flieathing, fhorter than the 

 Item. Sheath fomewhat unequal. Flowers very fmall, on 

 capillary Italks. 



9. S. califormciim. Yellow Unbranched Sifyrinchium. 

 Ait. n. 4. (Marica californica ; Ker in Curt. Mag. 

 t. 983.) — Stalk two-edged, winged, unbranched. Petals 

 obovate, pointlefs. Leaves linear-fword diapcd. — Dif- 

 covered on the coail of California, by Mr. Archibald Men- 

 zies, who brought feeds to England, in 1796. It proves 

 a hardy greenhoufe perennial plant, flowering in fummer 

 and autumn, and readily propagated, either by feed or 

 parting the roots, which, like thofe of perhaps all the in- 

 dubitable fpecies of this genus, unfortunately for the origin 

 of its name, are fibrous. The Jlali is about two feet high, 

 being taller than the leaves, though nearly the fame breadth, 

 and bears but one tuft of numerous^owfr.f, from a clofe 



Jhealh, one of whofe valves rifes fomewhat above them. 

 The corolla, J/amens, and Jlyle, are of an uniform bright 

 yellow. Mr. Ker remarks, that the Jilaments are combined 

 in their lower part only. 



10. S. convolutum. Yellow Branched Sifyrinchium. 

 Redout. Liliac. t. 47.^Stalk two-edged, branched, leafy. 

 Petals ovate, fcarcely pointed. Leaves linear-fword-lhaped. 

 — Said to be a native of the Cape of Good Hope, but for 

 this M. Rcdoute had no certain authority. It was fent 

 from Italy to the Paris gardens, and we diould not be 

 greatly furprifed, if future enquiries (hould prove it of 

 American origin. There feems very little difterence be- 

 tween this fpecies and the laft, except its more humble 

 growth, and the Jlem being divided or branched, and leafy. 

 Redoute has erroneoudy defined the latter as round, which 

 is correfted in his fifth volume, at /. 275. The name 

 alludes to the rolling in of the petals as they fade, which i» 

 alio the cafe in californicum, and many, if not all, of the 

 other fpecies. 



11. S. tenii'ifoHum. Yellow Slcnder-leaved Sifyrinchium. 

 Redout. Liliac. t. 275. — Stalk comprefled, branched, 

 fpreading. Peta.s ovate, acute. Leaves linear-awlfllaped. 

 Germen hifpid. — Communicated to the Paris garden by 

 M. Zea, a celebrated Spanidi botanill ; fo that we pre- 

 fume the plant to be a native of Mexico or Peru, though 

 nothing has been made known as to its origin. Tliis 

 fpecies agrees with the lad in its yeWaw Jlowers, which 

 however appear to be rather more numerous, limietimes fix, 

 in enchjljeath. The Jtrm and haves are much more flender, 

 and hardly fo tall ; the former twice-branched, in a fpre.id. 

 ing manner, the branches curved upwards, with an i reft 

 leaf or two at each fubdivifion. The germen is remarkable 



K2 iox 



