Curtis Bot. Mag., v.104 ser.3 n.34. t.6397. 1878.
= Leptochiton quitoensis (Herb.) Sealy 1937
TAB. 6397.
Nat. Ord. AMARYLLIDACEĈ. - Tribe PANCRATIEĈ. Genus ISMENE, Salisb.; (Kunth, Enum. vol. v. p. 681).
ISMENE TENUIFOLIA.
Native of Ecuador.Nat. Ord. AMARYLLIDACEĈ. - Tribe PANCRATIEĈ. Genus ISMENE, Salisb.; (Kunth, Enum. vol. v. p. 681).
ISMENE tenuifolia; bulbo globoso tunicis brunneis membranaceis, foliis circiter 6 synanthiis linearibus acutis patulis pedalibus, scapo semipedali unifloro, bracteis 2 subulatis caducis, ovario sessili oblongo-trigono, perianthii albi erecti 7-8-pollicaris tubo viridulo, segmentis linearibus flore expanso falcatis tubo ĉquilongis, coronĉ infundibularis tubo fundo luteo striis 6 viridibus percurso, margine inter filamentos producto patulo emarginato extus argute dentato, filamentorum parte libera inflexa semipollicari, antheris parvis line- aribus luteis, stylo prĉter coronam exserto sursum leviter declinato.
This is one of the finest additions that have been made for a long time to our stock of cultivated Amaryllidaceae. The plant has been known for nearly a century, for there is a speci- men from Pavon at the British Museum, and it is very singular that so striking a species should never have been named or described. We have fine specimens in the Kew herbarium, gathered by Jamieson and Spruce, in both cases in the neigh- bourhood of Guyaquil. It grows at a low level, and is only adapted for stove cultivation. In its native country the time of flowering seems to extend from December to March. It has been imported by Messrs. E. G. Henderson and Son, and the drawing was made from a specimen that flowered with them last June. DESCR. Bulb globose, one and a half or two inches in diameter, with brown membranous tunics. Leaves about half-a-dozen to a bulb, cotemporary with the flowers, spread- ing, linear, bright green, about a foot long. Scape six or eight inches long, one-flowered, ancipitous. Bracts two, subulate, membranous, deciduous. Ovary sessile, oblong- trigonous, green, half an inch long. Perianth white, erect, DECEMBER 1ST. 1878.
slightly scented, seven or eight inches long; tube cylindrical,
greenish; segments linear, as long as the tube, spreading from
the top of the corona in the expanded flower. Corona a
broad white funnel, with a tube about two inches deep,
tinted with yellow inside downwards, and marked with six
green longitudinal stripes bordered with yellow, the margin
furnished with a spreading quadrate process between each of
the filaments, which is bifid and sharply toothed along the
outer border; free portion of the filaments inflexed, subu-
late, half an inch long; anthers small, linear, bright yellow.
Style protruded beyond the corona, the exserted part green
and slightly declinate ; stigma capitate. - J. G. Baker.