AM ARY LLIDACEJE. 
191 
22 or more in each cell, opaque, flattened, heaped 
in two rows, scarcely lapping; [scape very flat, with 
winged furrowed margins]. Fruit not seen. 
This plant was named and first described by me in the 
Appendix ; and shortly after was represented and described 
by Professor Lindiey, who discovered a slight membranous 
connexion of the base of the filaments, and irregular half- 
abortive dentate wings to the shorter or sepaline filaments, 
which I did not perceive in the specimen on which I founded 
the genus ; but it had travelled 260 miles, from Highclere, 
and was a little withered, and the stigma had, as it appeared 
afterwards, been disfigured so as to appear obtuse. I have 
since re-examined it, expecting from its solid scape, that, 
being an occidental plant, it must appertain to the genera 
with a membranous cup. I find a fine six-toothed mem- 
brane, in which the filaments are inserted, adhering to the 
tube and lower part of the petals, the petaline teeth being 
prolonged. This membrane while the flower is fresh is 
partible, separating from the perianth like acuminate wings 
to the decurrent filaments, by taking hold of the point of 
the filament and pulling it. Those points are very short 
and ultimately curved. Here, therefore, we have the con- 
necting link by which the solid-scaped shell-seeded Ama- 
ryllidese without cup, like Oporanthus, come in contact 
with the Pancratiform section ; the membrane in Cldidan- 
thus being an imperfect or rather incipient manifestation 
of a cup. It brings Chlidanthus nearer to Clinanthus, in 
w'hich, both from the appearance of the specimens and from 
the name Pancratium given to it by Ruiz, I judge the 
membranous teeth to be free from the perianth, and, unless 
I have been deceived in a difficult examination, equal. 
I may take this opportunity of stating, that, although the 
plates in the Flor. Peruv. are disgracefully inaccurate, 
wherever I had doubted the text of Ruiz, 1 have found 
subsequent reason to bear testimony to his great accuracy. 
He would not have named any plant Pancratium which had 
not some appearance of a cup. Chlidanthus increases so 
rapidly by offsets and splitting of the main bulb that it is 
difficult to keep bulbs of a size to flow'er. It grows very 
vigorously, and flowers in June or July, in a border of 
which the soil is much warmed by contact with the wall 
of a stove. In the open garden it flourishes, if taken up 
