54 



PAXTON'S FLOWER GARDEN. 



The flowers are arranged in loose umbels, or stalks, very much longer than the spathe. The sepals 

 are much larger than the petals, and rather broader ; otherwise they are both of the same form and 

 colour — sharp-pointed and richly stained with crimson at the point, while the lower half is colourless 

 and semi-transparent ; they all cohere near the base. The stamens are inserted a little below the 

 middle of the petals, and just above the base of the sepals ; but they are in both cases easily 

 detached ; at the base they are united in the smallest possible degree ; the filaments are flat, in no 

 degree lobed, awl-shaped from a broad base: those opposite the petals, the longest. The ovary is 

 obovate, depressed at the apex, and terminated by a sunken awl -shaped style, 3-celled, with two 

 erect ovules in each cell ; the stigma is nearly simple. The capsule is papery, and opens through 

 the back of the cells. Seeds thin, black, with a soft skin ; the greater part abortive. 



Were it permitted to suppose that a plant so similar to Onions in most respects could form a 

 separate genus, one would be tempted to place this apart, for it wants their smell, and is most 

 remarkable for its petals being considerably smaller than the sepals. But no other difference being 

 perceptible we must believe it to belong to the group of which Allium roseum forms one. 



At first sight it would seem to differ from the Acuminate Allium described by Sir W. Hooker 

 in his Flora Boreali- Americana, in the absence of toothings from the petals, in the smallness of 

 those parts, and in stature : being a much larger and more handsome plant than Sir W. Hooker's 

 figure represents. We have, however, ascertained, from the examination of authentic specimens, 

 that there is no real distinction. In our wild plant from Douglas the petals are smaller than the 

 sepals, as in this, and we are unable to detect the toothings above referred to. 



