CONVALLARIA MAJALIS. 
NAT. CLASS,-MONOCOTYLEDONES ; ORDER,—LILIACEÆ. ART. 
CLASS, — HEXANDRIA ; ORDER,— MONOGYNIA. 
The Lily of the Valley has a creeping rhizoma, 
with entangled wrinkled fibres. In the Spring, the 
extremity of the rhizoma rises for a short distance 
into an aerial stem, at the end of which are sheath- 
ing scales, and at the summit a slender flower-stalk 
and two elliptic leaves. The flower-stalk is semi- 
cylindrical, bearing a eluster of pendulous flowers, 
inclining to one side, each pedicel with a narrow 
lanceolata bract at its base. The perianth has only 
one whorl, which is of an élégant bell-shaped form, 
with six broad rounded lobes at the margin. There 
are six stamens inserted on the base of the corolla; 
and one pistil with a roundish three-celled ovary, a 
thread-shaped style, and triangular stigma. The fruit 
is a scarlet globular berry with three cells, and one 
or two seeds in each. 
