IXIOLIRION MONTANUM. 
( Mountain Ixia-Lily. ) 
Class. 
DECANDRIA. 
Order. 
MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
AMARYLLIDACEJE. 
Generic Character. — Covin tunicate. Stalk brae- 
teate, with axillary or terminal peduncles. Peria/ith 
deeply-cleft, funnel-shaped, half-spreading. Filaments 
straight. Anthers versatile. Style straight. Capsules 
oblong, striped, three-celled, three-valved. Seeds 
numerous, oval-oblong. 
Specific Character.— Corm ovate, about an inch 
long. Leaves stem-clasping, deeply-channelled, linear, 
acuminate. Peduncles axillary and terminal, one to 
three-flowered. Germen slender, oblong. Corolla 
divided to the bottom, the outer petals narrower and 
less coloured. Filaments alternately equal. Capsule 
oblong, striated, three-celled, three-valved. 
Synonymes — Amaryllis tatarica, A. montana, Al- 
strcemeria montana. 
The really fine plant here represented, has, under various names, been long 
known to botanists. Ixiolirion, the genus of which it is a member, and, as far as is 
yet known, an only member, was founded, some years ago, by the Hon. and Rev. 
the Dean of Manchester, who, two or three years since, imported bulbs, through 
Colonel Sheil, from Teheran, in Persia, whose hills is one of the stations it inhabits 
naturally. The bulbs in question first produced flowers in 1844, from which a 
figure was given in the " Botanical Register" for that year. 
It is a scarce, highly ornamental, hardy plant, will flourish in common garden 
soil, and flowers in spring. Its bulbs are small, dark-coloured, and it produces 
foliage sparingly, having few radical leaves ; those few are linear and are a consider- 
able length. 
We met with the subject of our plate in May, flowering in a bed of bulbous 
plants which had been recently received from the same quarter, and through the 
same gentleman (Colonel Sheil), as those already mentioned, by Messrs. Knight and 
Perry, to whose attention we are indebted for the opportunity of preparing our 
drawing. 
Although the nature of I. montanum renders the open border its most appropriate 
situation, it is not there alone it can be seen to advantage ; for, saving that it is 
minus the fragrance, and has not such fine foliage, it is in every respect equal, indeed 
is superior to a Hyacinth of a similar colour ; its free and elegant habit puts to shame 
the mechanical air of that plant, and there is no doubt but it can be as easily brought 
