IL
i l
»
I ; fr j ni I) Ili ;
FERRARIA uncinata.
Hooked-leaved Ferraria.
Natural Order. I rideæ. Brownprodr. I. p. 302.
F E R R A R IA . Supra, fo l. 148.
F. uncinala, caule brevi subramoso foliis duplo breviore, foliis
lineari-ensiformibus striatis apice uncinatis, spathis iuflatis
subbifloris, segmentis perianthii acuminatis recurvis apice
involutis, lobis antheræ approximatis basi distinctis.
Root tuberous, resembling a small flattish Potatoe.
Stems 2 in our specimen from the same root, 4 or 5
inches in height, one of them simple, the other branched,
not quite erect, but a little flexuose, clothed with leaves
all the way up, smooth, and slightly spotted with small
purple spots a little above the base. Leaves sheathing
the stem at the base, linear oiTinearly ensiform, striated
with numerous longitudinal lines, the points a little
thickened and hooked inwards, about double the length
of the stem, of a pale green colour. Spathes inflated,
in our specimens 2-flowered, enclosing the flowers before
the buds burst forth for expansion, lanceolate,
acute, the points bent inwards, but not hooked like
the leaves, much striated, the margins membranaceous.
Peduncles short, surrounded by thin membranaceous
bractes which are enclosed within the spathe. Perianthium
deeply 6-cleft, the segments narrowly lanceolate
and tapering to a very sknder point, very much curled
at the margins, the points rolled inwards, the inner
ones about half the size of the outer ones, and becoming
quite pendulous, all erect at the base, where they form
a sort of bowl, the points and a great part of their
length of an elegant light brown, marked and spotted
with dark blue at the bend, and a little above if. Sta-
VOL. II. K
: ' , fi;