﻿( 95 .) 



SC I'LLA* *. 



Linnean Class and Order. Hexa'ndriaI, Monogy'nia. 



Natural Order. Asphode'le/eJ, Dr. R. Brown . — Lind. Syn. 

 p. 266 ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. p. 273. — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 539. — 

 Aspho'deli, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 51. — Sm. Gram, of Bot. p. 74. — 

 Lilia'cea:, Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 403. 



Gen. Char. Calyx none. Corolla ( perianthium§ ) (fig. 1.) 

 inferior, of 6 spreading, deciduous petals. Filaments (see figs. 

 1 & 2.) 6, thread-shaped, smooth, attached to the base of the 

 petals. Anthers oblong, incumbent. German (fig. 3.) superior, 

 roundish. Style simple, shorter than the stamens, deciduous. Stigma 

 simple. Capsule (fig. 4.) nearly egg-shaped, smooth, with 3 fur- 

 rows, 3 cells, and 3 valves, each valve with a central dissepiment 

 or partition. Seeds roundish. 



Distinguished from other genera, with a naked inferior corolla, 

 in the same class and order, by the corolla of 6 spreading decidu- 

 ous petals ; the smooth, thread-shaped filaments inserted at the 

 base of the petals ; the 3-celled capsule ; and roundish seeds. The 

 corolla of 6 spreading deciduous petals, will distinguish Scilla from 

 Hyac'mthus (t. 74), and Muscari (t. 92). 



Three species British. 



SCI'LLA BIFO'LIA. Two-leaved Squill. Star-Hyacinth. 



Spec. Char. Bulb coated. Cluster slightly corymbose. Brac- 

 teas none, or very minute. Flowers nearly upright. Leaves spear- 

 shaped, mostly two. 



Engl. Hot. t. 24.— Linn. Sp. PI. p. 443. — Jacquin’s Florae Austriacae, v. ii. p. 

 11. t. 117. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. i. p. 365. Eng. FI. v. ii. p. 146. — Curt. Bot. Mag. 

 t. 746. — With. (7lh ed.) v. ii. p. 429. — Annals of Botany, v. i. p. 104. — Gray’s 

 Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 178. — Lindl. Syn. p.269. — Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 156. — Hyacin- 

 thus stellaris bifolius Germanicus, Rudb. Campii Elysii, v. ii. p. 33. f. 1. ; also 

 f. 2 & 3. — Hyacinthus stellatus Fuchsii, Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 106. 



Localities. — I n groves in the west of England, but very rare : Engl. FI. — 

 Sir James Edward Smith first introduced this species into English Botany , on 

 the authority of Buddle’s Herbarium, in the British Museum; but it has since 

 been received from the west of England, by Mr. Sims, Druggist, of Norwich : 

 Sm. FI. Brit. 



Perennial. — Flowers in March and April. 



Bulb tunicated, egg-shaped. Leaves seldom more than two from 

 the same bulb, upright, spear-shaped, bluntish, concave, slightly 

 keeled. Scape ( stalk. ) from the centre of the bulb, a little taller 

 than the leaves, upright, round. Cluster ( raceme J inclining, 

 somewhat corymbose. Bracteas very small, sometimes altogether 



Fig. 1. Corolla, Stamens, and Germen. — Fig. 2. A Petal and a Stamen. — 

 Fig. 3. Germen and Pistil. — Fig. 4. A Capsule. 



* From scullo, Gr. to injure ; in Arabic also, t isgyl . Dr. Hoorer. 

 t the sixth class in the Linnean Artificial System; it comprehends those 

 plants which have perfect flowers, with 6 distinct equal stamens in each, 

 f See Gagea lutea, folio.41, a. $ See Galanthus nivalis, fol. 33, note {. 



