Hooker. Curtis's Bot. Mag. v.83 ser.3 n.13: t.4971. 1857.
= Eucharis amazonica Linden ex Planchon, 1857
TAB. 4971.
Nat. Ord. AMARYLLIDEĈ § PANCRATIEĈ. - HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
Gen. Char. EUCHARIS, Planch. et Lind. - Perianthii basis cum ovario con-
creta, tubo a basi leviter incurvo inferne angusto, superne sensim infundibuli-
formi, limbi 6-partiti laciniis revoluto-expansis, exterioribus quam interioribus
lanceolato-ellipticis angustioribus. Corona subcampanulata, perianthii fauci in-
serta, ad tertiam partem 6-fida, divisuris latis apice subbilobo-truncatis, inter
dentes obtusos staminiferis; filamenti pars libera late subulata, recta. Antherĉ
lineari-oblongĉ, supra basin bifidam dorso insertĉ, demum versatiles, biloculares,
rima duplici longitudinaliter dehiscentes. Stylus filiformis, exsertus; stigma vix
dilatatum, trilobulatum. Ovarium obtuse trilobum, triloculare; ovulis 2, ana-
tropis, angulo interno horizontaliter superpositeque affixis. Capsula (immatura)
alte triloba, lobis gibbosis, a latere compressiusculis, verosimiliter abortu mono-
spermis (nune ovulis pluribus, in loculo quoque 16-18). - Herba Novo-Grana-
tensis, bulbosa, glaberrima, bulbo ovato-oblongo, squamis completis tunicato. Folium
unicum, floribus coĉl*aneum, longiuscule petiolatum, petiolo antice plano, lamina late
elliptica, acuminata, basi in petiolum decurrente, costa medio subt*us obtuse promi-
nente, nervis utrinque 10 et ultra, incurvis, basi apiceque conniventibus, invicem
nervulis transversis connexis, pagina supera atro-viridi, infera pallidiore. Scapus
2-pedalis, folio longior, superne compressiusculus, apice umbella 8-10-fora ornatus,
spathis pluribus lineari-lanceolatis v. linearibus marcescentibus, pedicellis 8-18 lin.
longis, floribus candidis (corona basi lutescente), vix odoratis. Planch. et Lind.
EUCHARIS GRANDIFLORA.
Large-flowered Eucharis.Nat. Ord. AMARYLLIDEĈ § PANCRATIEĈ. - HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
EUCHARIS grandiflora; foliis in stirpe florifera 2-4 cordato-ovatis medio canali- culatis, scapo 3-5-floro, perigonii laciniis exterioribus ovatis interioribus latioribus, ovarii loculis 16-18-spermis. EUCHARIS grandiflora. Planch. et Lind. Flore des Serres, v. 9. p. 255. t. 957.
From the collection of Messrs. Veitch and Son, King's Road, Chelsea, where it bears the appellation of Eucharis Amazonica, a name we find nowhere recorded, and there can be no question of its being the E. grandiflora of Planch. and Linden, in the work above quoted, where however we find the specific character at variance with the figure, "perigonii laciniis exterioribus ovato- lanceolatis interiora latitudine excedentibus :" the reverse is the case, both in their figure and in our specimens. Those authors notice its affinity with their E. candida of the same work, vol. ix. MARCH 1ST, 1857.
p. 107, a species with which we are not acquainted. With us it
blossoms in the stove in the winter months, and the truly noble
pure white flowers, the large staminal cup slightly suffused with
pale yellow-green, are highly fragrant. Inhabits the Province of
Choco, New Granada. It is impossible not to see a very close
analogy between Linden and Planchon's genus Eucharis and
Eurycles of Salisbury (in our Tab. 3399); the true nature of
the bulbs, leaves, and flowers are the same. The latter genus
is exclusively a native of the warm parts of the Old World,
whilst our plant is peculiar to the New.
DESCR. Leaves rising from a rather large tunicated bulb.
Petioles from five to seven inches long, semiterete, plane or
slightly grooved above: the blade about equal in length to the
petiole, or longer, ovate, shortly acuminate, striated, dark green
above, paler beneath. Scape a foot or more high, bearing about
six or seven large white fragrant flowers, which emerge from a
bifid membranaceous spatha. Peduncles very short, with subu-
late bracteas at their base. Perianth hypocrateriform : the tube
curved, narrow for its greater length, expanding upwards, three
inches long, including the oblong, green, subtrigonal ovary.
Limb of six, horizontal, acute or subapiculate segments: three
outer exactly ovate; three inner cordiform-ovate. Staminiferous
cup large, white, tinged with green, six-lobed at the margin,
each lobe bifid, with its obtuse lobules subdivergent, and bearing
a stamen in the centre. Filament short, subulate, erect: anther
linear, versatile. Ovary oval, trigonous, three-celled, with fourteen
to sixteen ovules, in two rows. Style longer than the stamen:
stigma three-lobed.
Fig. 1. Transverse section of the ovary, with ovules : - magnified.
Fig. 1. Transverse section of the ovary, with ovules : - magnified.