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pollen yellow. Ovarmm 6-angular, 6-channelled, smooth and
glossy. Style smooth, triangular, scarcely so long as the
Stamens, '^igma fimbriate, slightly 3-lobed.
This interesting bulb is a native of Naples; the one from
wliich our drawing was taken, was sent from the Royal Botanic
Garden there, to Mr. Colvill, at the Chelsea Nursery,
where it flowered, and from whence onr drawing was made.
Tenore’s figure in the Flora Napolitana, represents a plant
rather stronger than ours, the scape longer, and the bractes
longer in proportion to the peduncles, than the present; it
belongs to the same tribe as the British O. umhellatum, but
is nearer related to the O. nanum of the Flora Grseca; but
that species has a still shorter scape, and its peduncles are
also very short, so that it cannot be confused with any other;
to the same division belong O. excapum, tenuifolium, refractum,
lanceolatum, collinum, and fmibriatum; the O. refractum
is now in flower at the Apothecaries’ Garden at Chelsea; it
is nearly related to O. excapum, but is readily distinguished
by the white line down the centre of each leaf.
The present species is readily distinguished from O. um-
bellatum by its large simple bulb, which produces few or
scarcely any offsets, whereas that species is always surrounded
by a nest of them; the whole of this tribe produce their
flowers the latter end of March, or beginning of April; they
succeed best in a border composed of a light sandy loam;
and as the species from the South of Europe are rather
more tender than those from the more northern regions, they
require to be planted deeper in the ground, to be more out
of the reach of frost; and should the Winters prove very severe,
it will be safest to cover them with a little litter, or a
covering of rotten tan, of two or three inches thickness, will
be of great service in keeping out the frost.
The generic name is derived from opvtOog, a bird, and
yaXa, milk: the milk of birds, abundance or ra rity ; from
the abundance of white flowers produced by the different
species.
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1. The six Stamens spread open.
I)y tlie Style and simple Stigma.
2. Ovarium, showing its angular sides, terminated
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