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300
SPATALÂNTHUS speciosus.
Beautiful Ribbon Flower.
Natural Order. I r i d e æ . Brown p ro d r .l. p . 302.
S P A T A L A N T H U S . Spatha rigida, terminalis, uniflora,bivalvis :
valvis convoluto-lanceolatis, conduplicato-oppositis integris. Perianthium
patens: tubus brevissimus: limbus sexpartitus, regularis;
laciniis subæqualibus. Stamina 3. Filamenta brevia, in tubum connata.
Antheroe oblongo-sagittatæ. Ovarium subrotundum, apice ver-
rucosum. Stigmata 3, plana, apice bifurcata.—Radix bulbo-tuber subro
tundo-ovatum, basi oblique depressum, tunicis crustaceo-coriaceis at
fe re putamineis vestitum, fibram principalem crassam subfusiformem
demittens. Folia plura, subjiliformi-clavata acuta, basi dilatata vaginantia.
Scapi uniflori, fo liis breviori. Flores rubri, striati, stellato-
variegati.
Spatalanthus speciosus. Supra fo l. 100.
Trichonema monadelphum. Swt. hort. brit. p . 399.
Root a bulb-tuber, of a roundish oval, clothed with a
shelly fibrous net-work, somewhat obliquely depressed
a t the base, where it produces numerous frbrous roots.
Leaves several, erect, from 4 to 6 inches in length, dilated
and sheathing each other a t th e base, where they
are longitudinally striated with numerous small lines,
becoming slender and nearly filiform above the sheath,
slightly thickening upwards, till they appear somewhat
club-shaped a little below th e point, which then becomes
abruptly acute; the outer ones only producing
the sheathy part, and have more the appearance of
bractes. Scapes ox flower-stalks much .shorter than the
leaves, erect, flowering in succession, smooth and slender.
terminal, rigid, 2-valved, 1-flowered; the
valves opposite, lanceolate, acute, green, with whitish
margins, folded inwards before the flowers expand, one
a little longer and more acute than the other. Flower
very handsome, spreading open like a star when fully
expanded, of a bright coppery red, marked from the
base with a handsome star of yellow and b la c k : tube