Refugium Botanicmn,] 
[March, 1871. 
TAB. 262. 
Natural Order Liliace^. 
Tribe Scille^. 
Genus Ornithogalum, Linn. 
Section Urophyllum (Salisb.) 
0. CAUDATUM (Ait. Hon. Kew, i. 442). Bulbis magnis ovoideis ceespi- 
tosis semiemersis, Mils 5 — 6 sesqui-pedalibns flaccidis loratis 
glabris dimidio superiore sensim augustatis, racemo 50 — 80-floro 
anguste th3Tsoideo demum pedali, pedicellis patentibus floribus 
sequilongis, bracteis linearibus ssepe uncialibus, periauthio semi- 
unciali segmentis lanceolatis albidis viridi-vittatis, lilamentis omni- 
bus deorsum dilatatis periantliio duplo brevioribus, ovario globoso 
seminibus in loculo 8 — 10. — Bot. Mag. t. 805 ; Kunth, Enum. iv. 
p. 357. 
A native of Cape Colony. 
Bulbs csespitose, half emergent, ovoid, tunicated, three to four 
inches thick. Leaves five or six to a root, contemporary with 
the flowers, lorate, fifteen to eighteen inches long, fifteen to 
eighteen lines broad downwards, glabrous, flaccid, narrowed 
gradually to an acute point. Scape a foot and a half to three 
feet high, firm, erect, terete. Raceme fifty- to eighty-flowered, 
finally a foot or more long, two to two and a half inches broad. 
Lower pedicels patent, six to eight lines long. Bracts linear, nine 
to twelve lines long. Perianth half an inch deep, the divisions 
dull white with a broad green keel. Filaments half as long as 
the perianth, all lanceolate or subquadrate in the lower half. 
Capsule globose, with eight to ten seeds in a cell. Style nearly 
as long as the ovary. 
Tab. 262. — 1, stamen with dilated filament; 2, pistil; 3, horizontal 
section of ovary : all magnified. — J. G. B. 
An old inhabitant of this country, well figured in the ' Botanic 
Magazine ' sixty-five years since. As this figure, however, gives 
no idea of the habit and character of the plant, and offers no 
details of the parts, I have thought it desirable to refigure the 
plant and supply the desired information. The plant loves light, 
a moderately cool treatment, and to be grown in a light rich 
loam. When so treated it produces a series of long, rich shining 
green leaves from a large, smooth, glossy bulb, which should be 
always kept above ground. It is often beautifully grown as a 
window plant by cottagers. — W. W. S. 
