NAT. ORDER. 
AmaryllidacecB. 
AMARYLLIS BREVIFLORA. AMARYLLIS LILY. 
Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Leaves, hiemal, arcuate. Scape, autumnal, before the 
leaves. Umbel, many-flowered, pedunculated, divaricate. 
Germen, triangularly obovate. Tube, narrow, funnel-shaped. 
Petaline filaments, adhering to the petals. Anthers, incum- 
bent, attached in the middle. Capsule, obovate, disposed to 
burst. 
Spe. Char. Leaves, lorate-linear, channelled. Perianth, funnel- 
shaped. Segments, acuminate, recurvedly spreading. 
The roots of this family of plants are nearly all bulbous, 
from the size of a walnut to that of a large turnip ; the calyx and 
corolla are confounded, superior, regular, colored, and the former 
overlapping the latter ; the stamens are six, arising from the sepals 
and petals, sometimes cohering by their dilated bases into a kind 
of cup ; sometimes an additional series of barren stamens is pre- 
sent, often forming a cup which surmounts the tube of the peri- 
anthium; anthers bursting inwardly; ovarium three-celled, the 
cells many-seeded, or sometimes one or two-seeded ; style one ; 
stigma three-lobed ; fruit three-celled and three-valved ; capsule 
with loculicidal dehiscence, or a three-seeded berry ; seeds with 
either a thin membranous, or thick and fleshy testa ; albumen 
fleshy ; embryo nearly straight, with its radicle turned towards the 
hilum. 
Propagation and Culture. This species, which is remarkable 
for its beautiful flowers, is a native of the Cape of Good Hope ; 
Vol.iii.— 24. 
