nated with several long taper-pointed segments. P e rianthium
funnel-form; tube short and slender, about a
third shorter than the scariose sheath : limb 6-parted,
the segments stellately spreading when expanded, oblong
and bluntly rounded, of a bright purple colour,
with lighter margins, and more or less clouded or diluted
; near the base of the segments is an irregular dark
spot or mark, below which it is of a bright light yellow.
Stamens 3, inserted in the base of the limb : filaments
erect, smooth, scarcely one-third the length of the limb,
joined to the back of the anthers, a little above the base :
anthers linear, the points bent inwards. Germen bluntly
triangular. Style smooth, slender, about the length of
the stamens. Stigmas 3, narrowly linear, channelled,
and fimbriate on the upper side, spreading, the points a
little recurved.
This very beautiful plant is the produce of another of
the bulbs that were brought from the interior of the
Cape, last Summer, by Mr. William Synnot, and several
of them have flowered very strong at the Nursery of
Mr. Colvill, without the least variation, so that there
cau be no doubt of its being a genuine species ; it is
readily distinguished from S. tricolor, to which it is
nearest related, by its branched stem and the hooked
mucro at the points of the leaves; it also produces bulbs
in the axils of its leaves similar to S. bulbifera; a comparison
of our figures and descriptions will readily
show the difference between the present genus and S y n n
o t i a , a genus proposed by us in a former number.
The bulbs of this species thrive best in a light sandy
soil, like the other Cape bulbs to which it is related; and,
like them, will succeed well to be planted in a bed, either
in the open ground, pr in a p it; if in the former w’ay,
the bulbs must be taken up after flowering, and laid to
dry, out of the reach of frost, till the next Spring; and
if grown in pots, they must be treated like other Cape
bulbs. They are readily increased by the offsets from
the bulbs.
1. The two valved S p ath e , showing Its unequal divisions. 2. P erian th ium
spread open and divested o f th e limb, showing the short tn b e , and the insertion
o f the stamens. 3. T he triangula r Germen, te rmin a ted by the smooth slend
e r s ty ie , and 3 linear fimbriate Stigmas,