April 14, 1881. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
297 
inferior, or apparently below the perianth. Taking Narcissus as a 
typical genus he described the five sections into which it is divided. 
1, Ajax, which includes the Daffodil, with its very long corona, and 
having the filaments of the stamens adherent very low down ; 2, Gany- 
medes, with a drooping Cyclamen-like habit, and reflexed limb, as 
N. triandrus ; 3, Hermione or Polyanthus Narcissus, with its slender 
tube and shallow corona, such as N. Tazetta, which is naturalised at 
St. Michael’s Mount, and flowers three months earlier than near 
London ; 4, Queltia, with a sub-cylindrical tube and short corona ; 
and lastly the true forms of Narcissus, as N. poeticus, with the tube 
widening at the mouth, &c. Several other genera, such as Pancra¬ 
tium and Ismene, have coronas, but it is not characteristic of the 
majority of genera in the order. It has been regarded as an abor¬ 
tive whorl of stamens, inasmuch as it sometimes bore supernumerary 
anthers. 
The family Amaryllidaceae is represented by three genera in Great 
Britain—the Daffodil, the Snowflake, and Snowdrop, the two last 
having free segments to the perianth and no corona. In comparing 
Amaryllids with the Lily family, the Daffodil with coherent lobes 
may be paralleled with the Hyacinth and Lily of the Yalley, while 
the Snowdrop and Amaryllis, with free lobes, would compare with the 
Tulip and Star of Bethlehem. With regard to the distribution of 
Fig. 70.—ERI0J30TRTA JAROKICA (THE LOQUAT). See page 298. 
the Amaryllids, Narcissus and Galanthus (Snowdrop) represented 
the family in temperate regions. Pancratium first appeared on the 
borders of the Mediterranean, Crinums and Pancratiums abounded in 
the West and East Indies, Hippeastrums were numerous in Brazil and 
South America ; but the greatest number is at the Cape of Good 
Hope, such as Hmmanthus, Crinum, Clivia, Brunsvigia, and Amaryllis. 
With regard to the properties of the family, acrid, narcotic, poisonous 
principles occur. The Daffodil is narcotic in small doses, while large 
doses of the petals are poisonous. Pancratium maritimum has the same 
properties as, and is substituted for, the Squill, a bulbous plant of 
the Lily family, which also occurs in the Mediterranean region. 
Haemanthus toxicarius of South Africa is intensely poisonous. The 
Kaffirs use the juice with the venom of snakes and the milky juice of 
Euphorbia for an arrow poison. Similarly, Crinum zeylanicum is 
violently poisonous. On the other hand an arrowroot or starch is 
extracted from the bulbs of Alstromeria pallida, &c., in Chili. One of 
the most useful of this family is Agave americana of Mexico, miscalled 
the American Aloe. The true Aloes are African plants, much resem¬ 
bling the above, but belonging to the Lily family. The American Aloe 
blossoms once within a hundred years and then dies, producing a 
flowering stem sometimes 40 feet high, and bearing three thousand 
blossoms. In Mexico the stem is tapped, the juice collected and allowed 
to ferment. It then forms a kind of beer called pulque. ^ A very 
iutoxicating spirit is also made from it by distillation. The juice 
