BLYPOXIDACEJE. 
369 
2. HYPOXISj Linn. 
Perianth slit down to the ovary into 6 oblong-lanceolate segments. 
Stamens epigynous ; filaments short, subulate ; anthers basifixed or 
versatile. Ovary 3-celled, the septa sometimes evanescent ; style 
cylindrical; stigmas free or consolidated. Eruit capsular. — Annual or 
perennial herbs, the flowers usually yellow and corymbose and leaves 
and outer perianth-segments on the outside and ovary hairy. 1)istrib. 
Of the order. Species about 50. 
Expanded flower in. broad 1. H. angustifolia. 
Expanded flower 3 in. broad 2. H. rhizophylla. 
1. H. angustifolia, Lam. Encycl. iv. 182. "Rootstock barrel- 
shaped, perennial, often bearing more than one rosette of leaves. 
Leaves linear, persistent, dry, 4-8 in. long, obscurely pilose. Pedun- 
cles several to a tuft, 1-6 in. long, 2-3-flowered, silky ; bracts small, 
linear; pedicels J-l Jin. long. Ovary oblong. Perianth- segments lanceo- 
late, J in. long, silky on the outside. Stamens half as long as the 
limb ; anthers sagittate, versatile. Capsule oblong, J in. long, with 3-4 
seeds in each cell. 
Mauritius, frequent on dry hills. Also Madagascar and Tropical Africa. 
2. H. rhizophylla, Baker. Rootstock a perennial tuber. Petiole J-l 
foot long ; blade ligulate, 2-3 feet long, J-4 inches broad, often root- 
ing at the tip, narrowed from the middle to both ends, plicate, not 
pilose. Elowers few, subspicate on a short densely pilose scape ; bracts 
lanceolate, amplexicaul, acute, scariose, 1-1J in. long. Ovary oblong, 
densely pilose, shortly stalked. Perianth-segments lanceolate, lj in. 
long. 
Seychelles, frequent amongst rocks and stones in the beds of the streams, Rome , 
240 ! 609 ! Endemic. 
Order XCVI*. DIOSCOREACEiE. 
Elowers poly gam o-dioicous. Perianth superior, in the males cut 
down to the base, in the females to the ovary, into 6 subequal seg- 
ments. Stamens 6, included; filaments short; anthers 2-celled. 
Ovary inferior, 3-celled ; ovules 1-2 in a cell, anatropous ; style 0 
or short ; stigmas 3. Eruit capsular or baccate. Seeds with a small 
embryo in the axis of abundant albumen. — Twining herbs or 
shrubs, with large tuberous rootstocks, broad sometimes compound 
leaves with reticulate venation and minute flowers in simple or 
panicled spikes. Distrib. Tropics of both hemispheres. Species 
150. 
