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ORNITHÓGALUM biflórum.
Twin-flowered Star o f Bethlehem.
Linnean Class and Order. H E X A N D R IA M O N O G Y N IA .
Natural Order. A S P H O D E L B Z E . Brown prodr. 1. p . 2.14.
O r n i t h o g a l u m . P erianthium profundè 6-partitum, » q u a le , persistens,
patuluni. Stamina 6, subaequalia, disco inserta. Filamenta compressa,
apice attenuata. Antherce incumbentes : loculis basi solutis, dis-
tinctis. Stigma simplex v. trilobum. Capsula trilocularis, polysperma.
Semina subglobosa v. angulata, nuda.
Genus (cosmopolitanum) scapis nudis simplicibus, floribus racemosis plerumque
albis, bracteis membranaceis.
O biflorum, scapo filiformi foliis longiore, pedunculis subgeminatis, bracteis
brevissimis, filamentis subulatis, stylo trigono, stigmate simplici.
Scilla biflora. R u iz et Pavon f l . peruv. et. chil. 3. p . 69. t. 302. f . a. Per-
soon syn, 1. p . 366. Schult, syst, 7. p , 558.
Bulb spherical, about the size of a shallot, the outside
of a dark brown. Scape about a foot and a half high, filiform,
solid, wiry, of a glaucous green. Leaves broadly
linear, blunt, channelled and concave above, flaccid, recurved
glaucous green, convex and slightly angular underneath,
from a span to a foot long. Peduncles single-flowered, in
distant fascicles, of 2 or 3 together, or solitary, filiform,
slender, erect and spreading, disposed in a loose, terminal
erect raceme. Flowers white, about the size of those of
Allium lacteum, pale green outside at the base. Bractes
very short, membranous, lanceolate, acuminate. Perianthium
persistent, deeply divided into 6 elliptical-oblong,
blunt, concave, segments, with a narrow green furrow ; the
inner’ 3 broader and longer. Stamens 6, equal. Filaments
awl-shaped, compressed, white. Anthers yellow, cordate,
incumbent, the cells opening lengthways on the inside,
approximate and parallel at the top. Ovarium bluntly
3-sided, 3-celled, with two rows of rounded and closely
packed ovula in each cell. Style about as long as the ova-
;r.
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