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BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
1. —THE COMMON FRIT1LLA11Y. (Fritillaiua Meleagris, Lin .) 
Synonymes. —Chequered Daffodil; Snake’s Head Lily; Guinea-hen 
flower. 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 622 ; 2nd ed., t. 471 ; and our fig. 2, 
in PI. 59. 
Specific Character.— All the leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, 
pointed. Stem single-flowered. Honey-pore linear. Points of the 
perianthium inflexed. {Smith.) 
Description, &c.—The common Fritillary is a modest, dull-coloured, bell-shaped flower, with a drooping 
head, which has nothing striking in its outward appearance, but which, when examined closely, will be found to 
be delicately marked with chequers, and to have four drops of water hanging inside its bell. The same pecu¬ 
liarity is found in all the exotic species of Fritillary, and in the Crown Imperial, which was formerly included in 
this genus. The British species is found abundantly near the Thames and other rivers, particularly where the 
ground is frequently overflowed ; but as it is never very conspicuous, except in the month of April, when it is in 
flower, it is easily overlooked. It has many popular names, several of which are given in the synonymes ; and in 
some parts of England it is also called the Widow flower. 
GENUS II. 
THE TULIP. (Tulipa, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Pcriantliium campanulate, of six pieces, without honey pores at the base. Stigmas three, thick, sessile. Capsule oblong, 
three-cornered. Seeds flat. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —Only one species is British. The genus is called Tulipa from its Persian name. 
1.—THE WILD TULIP. (Tulipa sylvestris, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 63; 2nd edit., t. 472; and our fig. 1, in PI. 58. 
Specific Character. —Flowers solitary, a little drooping. Leaves lanceolate. Stigmas triangular, abrupt. Stamens hairy at the base. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —The wild Tulip of England and France is very different from the unbroken Tulips or 
breeders of the gardens, which are all, or nearly so, descended from tulips brought originally from Italy or the 
Levant, and are of a dull reddish-purple before they become beautifully variegated. The British wild Tulip, 
on the contrary, is yellow, and though it becomes double by cultivation, is seldom variegated, unless the Parrot 
tulips spring from T. sylvestris. The wild Tulip is generally found growing in chalk pits, where it flowers in 
the month of April. This species has a very small bulb ; and it increases by throwing out fibres from the root, 
at the extremity of which small bulbs become formed. 
CHAPTER LXXVIII. 
THE ASPHODEL FAMILY. (Asphodele.®, R. Br.) 
Character of the Order. — Calyx and corolla forming a six- 
parted, or six-cleft, petaloid, regular perianthium. Stamens six, inserted 
upon the perianthium, or hypogynous; the three opposite the sepals 
sometimes either unliko the rest, or wanting. Ovarium superior, three- 
celled, with two or many seeded cells ; ovules, when two, ascending. 
Style one. Stigma entire, or with three short lobe9. Fruit mostly 
a three-celled, three-valved capsule, with a loculicidal dehiscence; 
occasionally succulent, and sometimes three-parted. Seeds with a 
testa, which is black, brittle, and crustaceous ; albumen fleshy, embryo 
included. 
Description, &c.— There are eleven genera of British plants in this order, but one of them, viz., the 
