CONVALLARIA POLYGONATUM. ANGULAR-
STALKED SOLOMON’S-SEAL.
CONVALLARJA Polygonatum, foliis ovato-ellipticis alternis, caule aneipiti an<mlato; pedunculis
axillaribus. ünifloris; filamentis glabris, stylo recto. ö ’
CONVALLARIA Polygonatum. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 451. Huds. Angl, p. 1*46. With. Pot. Arr.
ed. 4;- vól. Q. p. 335. Smith Fl. Brit. p . 571. Èngl. Bot. t. 280. Oeder Ft.
D a n .t. 161. Willd. Sp. P I vol. 2. p. 16 1 . Lam. Diet. vol. 4. p. 368* Dccand.
LI. Fr. pol. 3. p. 176. Fl. Gall. Syn. p . 154. Alt. Hort. K m . ed. 2. vol. 2.
p . 279. Both Germ. vol. 2. p . 388.
POLYGONATUM vulgare.. Desfont. in Ann. du Mus, vol. 9.
POLYGONATUM caule simplici, anguloso, cernuo, foliis ovato-lanceolatis, rigidis, alis ünifloris.
Hall; Help. n. 1242.-
POLYGONATUM floribus ex singularibus pediculis. Rail Syn. p . 263.
Bohem. Kokórjlcowykoren. Dan. Hvidrod, Sminkerod. Dut. Salomon's Zegel. Fr. L'Herbe de la
Rupture. Le Genouil/et? Germ. Die Weisszourz. Die grosse Weisswurzel. Hung-. Kokas sark
f ü Gyenge-gyökér. It. IlGinocchietto. N ow . Gjetrams. Gjetslcïörp. Pol. Kokoryezka. Krowlca-
ziele. Port. Oscello de Salomüo. Russ. Kuperna. Sp. E l sello de Salomon. Swed. Bdkblad.
Class a n d Ord e r . HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[Natural Ord e r . SMILACEiE, Br. ASPARAGI, Juss. ASPARAGEJ5, Decandolle.]
Gen. Char. Perianthium* globosum aut cylindraceum, sex-dentatum; Stamina sex; Bacca globosa, antenia-
turitatem maculata, tri-locularis, loculis monospermis. Decand.
Gen. Char. Perianth* globose or cylindrical,.six-toothed; Stamens six ; Berry globose, spotted before it is
npe, three-celled, the cells monospermous. Decand.
Radix horizontalis, carnosa, nodosa, alba, fibras sim-
plices v. ramosas pubescentes hic illic emittens.
Caulis simplex, palmaris v. dodrantalis, anceps, angu-
latus, basi denudatus, vaginatus, vaginis striatis,
fuscis, deinde oblique ascendens, ciirvatus, folio-
Folia sesquiuncialia, subsecunda, alterna, sessilia, ovato-
elliptica,. basi contracta, semi-amplexicaulia, ri-
gidiuscula, supra viridia, longitudinaliter striata,
subtus glaucescentia, nervis prominentibiis in-
structa.
Pedunculi axillares, solitarii, uniflori.
Flores retrorsum (seu ad latus posterius) spectantes, nu- !
tantes, albi, apice virides.
Perianthium monopetalum, cylindraceum, tubulo-
sum, medium versus contractual, apiçe dilatation,
sex-divisum, laciniis erecto-patentibus, ova-
tis, barbatis.
Stamina sex, tubi fere longitudine, atque ejus medium
versus inserta : Filamenta alba, iomnino glabra,
fig. 2. Antheræ oblongæ, flavte, biloculares:
Pollen minutum, sphæricum.
Ovarium ovato-globosum, lineis longitudinalibus tribus.
Stylus staminum longitudine, filiförmis,.
rectus. Stigma trilobum, lobis patentibus, hirsu-
. üs, albis.
Pericarpium non vidi.
Root horizontal, fleshy, knotted, white, throwing out
here and there simple or branched pubescent
fibres.
Stem simple, from a span to a foot high, compressed,
angulate, naked at the base, sheathed, with the
sheaths striated, brown, thence obliquely ascending,
curved, leafy.
Leaves an inch and a half long, alternate, sessile, ovato-
elliptical, at the base contracted, partly embracing
the stem, mostly inclining one way, somewhat rigid,
above green, longitudinally striated, beneath
glaucous, furnished with prominent nerves.
P eduncles axillary, solitary, one-flowered.
F lowers pointing backwards (or to the posterior side),
nodding, white, green at the apex.
Pe r ia n t h monopetalous, cylindrical, tubular, contracted
towards the middle, expanded at the
apex, where it has six divisions, whose segments
are erecto-patent, ovate, barbate.
Stamens six, about the length of the tube, and inserted
near its middle: Filaments white, entirely smooth,
fig. 2.: Anthers oblong, yellow, two-celled: Pollen
minute, spherical.
Ovary ovato-globose, with three longitudinal marks.
Style the length of the stamens, filiform, straight.
Stigma three-lobed, with the lobes spreading,
hairy, white.
P e r ica rp I have not seen.
Fig- 1. A Flower longitudinally dissected, fig . 2 . A Stamen. Jig. 3. Pollen. .Jig. 4. Stigma.—All more or
. less magnified.
I betoown1^ ? ! ! thm ?° <5 ? have noticed two important characters by which this plant may more surely
straightness of .[ *^nlty G tllan hy any other: these are the smoothness of the filaments and the
stem ■ H i ■ ™ 'the1r dillerences may be found in the smaller sice. In the compressed and annulate
’ l« « * . the solitary flowers, and their larger size in proportion to that of the plant
soSces”abM A?hS H i ■, Pl4n t*te:Ghawton-park near Alton, Hampshire; Tenby, in Pembrokeshire;
about Settle and Ingleton, Yorkshire; in woods at East Harptree-under-
j M H B B lM g B a"d Mr. Graves informs us he has found it and Multiflora, m considerable abundance.
rarreSce l in n p R B i "ear Bexley and. Dartford, Kent. Thus it appears to be of much less frequent oc^
t e S a n c e to 8 ’ ' J“mCS Smi,h > slly observes, it may have been overlooked from its
ao^ siteon trn n d iPfd S °m t'im Hel/choria/hi folio,caule purpurascente,"found by Mr. Bobartin woods on tile
t a l l know nifupon S ’autarity! - » ™rie* merely of C. P o ly g o n a l,
of ft"1 d i v i d e d into ">™y.genera by M. Desfontaines, in a Memoir published in the ninth volume
name of Coma! i a , u ' f 1 A" R B lnd'g™o“s to Great Britain into two; of which C. majalis retains tile
lation of P o h Z Z f . H H H G p °/ygm atum, C. multiflora, and C. verticillata, is restored the old generic appel-
■ for w H K S K m m lh ls arrangementjias not been adopted by other botanists, since theduly difference is,
a i radical j “ corolla, near the base o f which the stamens are inserted, a raceme o f flowers'
pert of it th. * ’n n 0PP0sltI0n to the, cylindrical corolla, having the stamens attached near the middle or superior
J ’ 'lory Jlmcrs, and the Catiline leaves o f Polygonal,m.
along witii'p//,”;'.11 ^ ecando11® Comallaria was included in the order of Asparagi; but Mr. Brown removed it,
Asphodelew (B' ■ W f i S m oUlf cxoll° 8™era, to his Smilacca, an order differing from his berry-bearing genera of
tile style bein» HKHH ct Asparagi plerique, Juss.), next which it is to be placed, in nothing but the habit, in
I generally divided, and in the teguments of the, seed.
oaten tile r o o ted™ " th? roots “ 0 "lad<! “ to bread in times of scarcity; and Lamarck says that he has often
o pi epaiea uke the young shoots o f asparagus.
* I follow Brown and Mjrbel in calling the simple floral integument a perianthium.