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iECHMEA SUAVEOLENS. 



(Sweet-smelling Mchmea.) 

 LINNEAN SYSTEM. NATURAL ORDER. 



HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. BR.OMELIACE M. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



iEchmea. (Ruiz, bt Pav.) Bractece sub floribus cyathiformes, spinoso .aristatse, integerrimse 

 vel tri-crenatse. Calyx triphyllo-tripartitus ; laciniis sequalibus, spiraliter convolutis, aristatis, 

 rarius muticis, uno latere oblique dilatatis. Petala 3 calyce multo longiora, obtusa vel acuta, 

 inferne convoluta, basi squamosa, rarius nuda. Filamenta lineari-filiformia, receptaculo inserta, 

 3 petalorum basi adnata. Anther ee subincumbentes dorso affixae. Stylus filiformis. Stigmata 

 3 linearia vel subpetaloidea, spiraliter contorta. Bacca ovato-rotundata, parum succosa, trilocularis, 

 loculis polyspermis. Semina placenta? in apice anguli interioris positse affixa, obovata vel 

 oblonga, primum basi filo gracili appendiculata, demum nuda. — (Schultes Syst. Veget. vol. vii. 

 part ii. p. 62.) 



Bracts that are situate under the flowers, cup-shaped, terminating with a spiny bristle, very 

 entire, or thrice-crenate. Calyx three-parted, divisions equal, spirally convolute, bristly at the 

 apex, rarely pointless, one side obliquely dilated. Petals much longer than the calyx, obtuse, or 

 acute, convolute beneath, scaly at the base, rarely naked. Filaments narrowly filiform, inserted in 

 the receptacle, adnate to the base of the three petals. Anthers somewhat incumbent, fixed by 

 their back. Style filiform. Stigmata three linear, or somewhat petaloid, spirally twisted. Berry 

 ovate, roundish, a little succulent, three-celled, cells many-seeded. Seeds fixed to the placenta at 

 the apex of the interior angle, obovate, or oblong, in the first instance appendiculate at the base 

 by a slender thread, afterwards naked. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



M. suaveolens ; foliis ensiformibus pungentibus; margine aculeatis; scapo simplici lanato- 

 tomentoso ; paniculd cylindracea ; ramulis flexuosis ; floribus G — 8 sessilibus inapertis ; bracteis 

 linearibus scariosis : bracteolis venosis ; petalis violaceis ; paniculd folio breviori. 



Leaves sword-shaped, pungent • margin prickly ; scape simple, woolly-tomentose ; panicle 

 cylindrical ; branchlets flexuose ; flowers from G to 8, sessile, unopened ; bracts linear, scarious ; 

 bractlets veined ; petals violet-coloured ; panicle shorter than the leaf. 



Descb. — Plant from the base to the apex of the leaf about two feet and a half high. Leaves 

 closely imbricate at the base, sword-shaped, pungent, slightly clothed with a mealy downy 

 pubescence, which on some of the leaves is more conspicuous at the edges. Margins strongly 

 armed with large brownish prickles. Inflorescence paniculate. Scape about a foot long, covered 

 with a soft arachnoid tomentum. Bracts scarious, white, from about an inch to an inch and a half 

 long, covered with the same arachnoid tomentum at the back, more particularly at the base. 

 VOL. III. NO. XXXVI. FEBRUARY, 1840. A A 



