Amaryllis rayneri Hooker 1871.

AMARYLLIS (Hippeastrum) Rayneri ; bulbo elongato-ovoideo v. lagenæformi. foliis distichis falcato-arcuatis 1½-2 poll. latis ensiformibus apice at- tenuato obtuso firmis creberrine striatis viridibus fulvo marginatis, scapo valde compresso ancipiti viridi fistuloso 1-1½-pedali diametro pollicis, floribus 2-3, bracteis viridibus membranaceis, 3 exterioribus lanceolatis, 3 interioribus linearibus, pedicellis 1½-pollicaribus, floribus 5-6-poll. longis, ovario obovoideo, perianthii foliolis oblanceolatis acutis supra medium recurvis undulatis pallide purpureis medio albis, 3 exte- rioribus sub apice cucullatis, staminibus declinatis incurvis, antheris flavis, stigmate 3-lobo. A very stately plant, remarkable for the broad and sickle- shaped, buff-edged leaves, and large size of the pale, purple flowers ; its bulbs were sent by Mr. Williams of Bahia, a gentleman who has introduced many fine plants from Brazil, to Dr. Rayner of Uxbridge, who flowered it in November, 1870, and whose merits as an ardent and successful culti- vator, I venture to commemorate by giving his name to this superb plant. Of the described species of the Hippeastrum section of Amaryllis, I find none that agree with this in most of its characters, though in the form of the falcate leaves it re- sembles A. calyptrata, Ker, (Bot. Reg., vol. ii. t. 164), also a native of Brazil, from whence indeed the majority of the genus hitherto introduced into European gardens have been derived. I have followed Endlicher, and the majority of botanists, in treating Hippeastrum as a section of Amaryllis, keeping it sectionally distinct on account of the hollow scape: how far this character coincides with that drawn from the seeds, February 1st, 1871.

and relied upon by Herbert and others, is not yet satisfac- torily ascertained. Amaryllis, according to these latter authors, should have fleshy seeds, and Hippeastrum angular seeds, with a black seed-coat, characters which have not been sufficiently investigated, because of the rarity of fruiting specimens of either genus (or section) in herbaria or gardens. DESCR. Bulb ten inches long, narrow-ovoid or flask-shaped, covered with pale membranous scales. Leaves distichous, sixteen to twenty inches long, remarkably sickle-shaped, all curling in the same direction, two to two and a half inches diameter, narrowed to an obtuse point, coriaceous, densely striate, flat except at the concave base, deep green, with a narrow buff margin. Scape one to one and a half feet high, short, erect, much compressed, 2-edged, green, hollow. Spathes about six, two to three inches long, membranous; outer lanceolate, convolute, subacute; inner linear, very narrow. Flowers two to three, horizontal; pedicels one to one and a half inch long. Ovary short, obovoid. Perianth five to six inches long, four to five inches diameter across the tips of the segments, funnel-shaped; segments pale purple, with whitish tips and median band, oblanceolate, striated externally, acute, margins waved, upper one-third recurved, the outer with thickened hooded tips. Filaments pale, approximate, declinate, with arched upcurved tips; anthers oblong, yellow. Style slender, tip upcurved; stigma 3-lobed. - J. D. H. Fig. 1, Diminished view of the whole plant; 2, stigma:-both magnified.