GRIFFINIA HYACINTHINA. 
(Hyacinth-blue flowering Griffinia.) 
Class. Order. 
HEXANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order 
AMARYLLIDACEiE. 
Generic Character. — Spathe two-valved, shorter 
than the many-flowered umbel. Corolla funnel-shaped, 
nodding; tube short; limb six-parted, unequal, bila- 
biately campanulate. Filaments inserted at the top of 
the tube, alternately longer, one rising, the others 
decimate. Anthers incumbent. Germen three-celled. 
Stigma simple. Capsule pedunculate, membranous. 
Seeds solitary, obovate, ventricose, shining, whitish 
ochre-coloured. 
Specific Character.— Plant a bulbous perennial. 
Bulb tunicate, ovate. Leaves two or three, recumbent, 
petiolate, ovate-oblong, abruptly pointed, latticed by 
veins crossing the vertical nerves ; midrib prominent 
beneath. Scape cylindrical, longer than the leaves. 
Umbel nearly sessile, sub-capitate. Flowers with 
intervening bracts. Corolla ringent, funnel-shaped, 
unequal ; tube several times shorter than the limb, 
bent forward, cylindrical ; throat naked, sub-ventri- 
cose; segments lanceolate, more or less undulated, 
upper ones erect and conniving. 
In the tribe of Amaryllids — those " lilies of the field," there are many fair 
flowers that deserve all the care of the culturist who aims at the production of a 
gorgeous mass of bloom. The present is one of them, and one which, although it 
has been many years known in Britain, is far from being common. It is on this 
account, and because — unlike the majority of the species enrolled with it in this 
extensive natural order — the prevailing hue of the flower is a beautiful ultramarine 
blue of the richest description, that we have been induced to give it a place in our 
Magazine. 
A figure was given some years since in the " Botanical Magazine," and the 
accompanying letter- press states that it was discovered in Brazil by Mr. E. 
Nordford, during his residence in that country, and imported to England about 
the year 1815, by Mr. Griffin, of South Lambeth. 
The genus is closely related to Amaryllis ; and, indeed, when this species was 
introduced, it was not considered to be sufficiently distinct from that family to 
warrant the establishment of a new genus. It was not till the addition of a 
second plant (G. parviflbra) presenting the same anomaly to the primitive 
characters of Amaryllis, that a separation was made under the title of Griffinia. 
Our subject is by far the most handsome and largest-flowering of the three species 
now in the country ; and there is a peculiar softness in the tint of the corolla — 
such as Nature alone can lend, that contributes much to the interest it excites. 
There are several varieties of it, differing chiefly in the length and comparative 
