458 
XCV. MELANTHACEiE. 
[ Colchicum. 
Ord. XCV. MELANTHACE2E B. Brown. 
Perianth petaloid, 6-partite or tubular by the cohesion of the 
claws of the segments, which are often rolled inward before ex- 
pansion. Stamens 6, perigynous. Anthers attached below the 
middle, at first turned outwards, but sometimes afterwards in- 
wards by resupination. Ovary free, with 3 cells and many 
(rarely few) ovules. Style partly or entirely divided into 3. 
Stigmas undivided. Capsule 3-celled, usually separable into 3 
carpels each with several seeds. Integument of the seeds 
neither black nor crustaceous, but membranous. Albumen 
firm, fleshy. — Root sometimes bulbous. Leaves sheathing at the 
base , with parallel nerves. — Strongly narcotic, diuretic, and 
cathartic. Veratrine is extracted from Veratrum Subadilla. 
1. Colchicum. Perianth tubular, very long; limb 6-partite. Styles 
long. Root bulbous. Scape leafless. 
2. Tofieldia. Perianth 6-partite. Styles short. Root fibrous, stem 
with leaves. 
1. Colchicum Linn. Meadow-Saffron. 
Perianth tubular, very long, rising from a spatha ; limb cam- 
panulate, 6-partite, petaloid. Styles very long. Cells of ovary 
■md. fruit many-seeded. — Named from Colchis, where it was 
said to grow abundantly. 
1. C. autumndle L. (common 31 .) ; leaves plane broadly lan- 
ceolate erect. E. B. t. 133. 
Meadows and pastures, chiefly in the north-west of England : Ray. 
In Suffolk, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, and other places. 
Alloa, Scotland. It. 8 — 10. — The flowers appear in succession, 
rising from the cormus, with a very long narrow tube, surrounded at 
the base with a membranous sheath. The stamens are inserted on 
the oblong-ovate segments of the pale purple perianth. Gcrmen at the 
base of the cormus, the long thread-like styles running up the whole 
length of the tube. The leaves and fruit appear in spring and are 
withered before summer. In this species the flowers sometimes do 
not appear till spring along with the leaves, and then they are of a 
greenish white colour, violet at the base. ( E . B. t. 1482.) 
2. Tofieldia Huds. Scottish Asphodel. 
Perianth 6-partite, having a small 3-partite involucre. Styles 
short. Cells of ovary and fruit many-seeded. — Named in 
honour of Mr. Tofield, an English botanist. 
1. T. palustris Huds. ( Mountain S.) ; spike ovate, stem 
glabrous filiform nearly leafless, petals obovate obtuse, germen 
3-lobed, involucre at the base of the pedicel. E. B. t. 536. T. 
borealis Wahl. Anthericum cnlyculatum L. 
