Volume 8 — PLATE DXXVIII.

ORNITHOGALUM ELATUM.

Lofty Ornithogalum.

CLASS VI. ORDER I.

HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Six Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Corolla 6-petala, persistens. Filamenta basi dilatata. Capsula 3-locularis. Semina subrotunda, nuda.

Blossom 6-petalled, remaining. Threads widened at the base. Capsule 3-celled. Seeds roundish and naked.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Ornithogalum foliis lanceolatis: floribus in racemo longissimo crescentibus, albis et parvis: staminibus longitudinem corollarum fere æquantibus.

Ornithogalum with lance-shaped leaves. Flowers grow on a very long spike, are white and small. The stamens scarcely the length of the blossoms.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

This tall and delicate plant was introduced by J. M. Cripps, esq., who found the roots in Egypt on the plains of Alexandria, near the spot where the famous battle was fought in the year 1801; and from one which he planted in his garden at Staunton in Sussex our drawing was made. It agrees in habit with the Ornithogalum latifolium, but is perfectly distinct both in the blossoms and foliage from that species. The plant which our figure represents had already produced four side bulbs. It flowered in March last, and appears to propagate freely.