C.H. Wright. Curtis's Bot. Mag., v.142 ser.4 n.12, Tab.8646. 1916.
TAB. 8646.
EUCHARIS Lowii.
Western Tropical America.
AMARYLLIDACEÆ. Tribe AMARYLLEÆ.
EUCHARIS, Planch.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 781.
Eucharis Lowii, Baker in Gard. chron. 1893, vol.xiii. p. 538, fig. 78; species
E. grandiflorae, Planch. & Linden, affini, tubo staminorum perianthio
adnato, lobis tantum liberis distinguitur.
Herba perennis. Bulbus globosus, collo ei E. grandiflorae simile nisi crassiore
instructus. Folia ovato-cordata, breviter cuspidata, glaberrima, 22 cm.
longa, 18 cm. lata, nervi lateralibus approximatis venulis transversariis
filiformibus connexis; petiolus 80 cm. longus. Pedunculus 60 cm, longus,
2-5-florus; bracteae membranaceae, late lanceolatae, 4.5 cm. longae, 8mm.
latae ; pedicelli crassi, 1 cm. longi. Perianthium album; tubus infundi-
buliformis, circiter 9 cm. longus, pars inferior cylindrica 3 mm. diametro,
faux 4.5 cm. diametro; lobi elliptici, subacuti, leviter concavi, 5 cm.
longi, 8 cm. lati. Staminorum tubus perianthio adnatus; lobi emarginati,
extra linea verticali luteo-viridi notati ; filamentorum pars libera 2 cm.
longa. Ovarium oblongum, viride, 3 cm. longum, 8 mm. diametro;
stylus staminibus multo longior; stigma trilobum. - C. H. WRIGHT.
Twenty-five years ago when describing and figuring
Eucharis Bakeriana, N. E. Brown, at
t.7144 of this work,
the late Sir Joseph Hooker supplied a concise
resumé of
the seven species of
Eucharis then known, all of which are
natives of the Andes of Colombia. In addition to those
mentioned there, another species,
E. galanthoides, Planch.
& Linden, had been described from Brazil, while more
recently yet another,
E. narcissiflora, Huber, has been
reported from the same region. Yet another, making
the tenth known species and the fifth to find a place in
this work, has been described since 1890. This species,
E. Loowii, was originally imported from Colombia, among
a consignment of
E. Sanderi, Baker, by Messrs. Hugh
Low and Company ; it has, however, a rather wider
range of distribution than its earlier know congeners
from that State, for the plant from which our illustration
has been prepared is one which flowered in November,
1913, in the establishement of Messrs. Sander and Sons,
St. Albans, who report that they received it from Peru.
In general facies
E. Lowii much resembles
E. grandiflora,
FEBRUARY, 1916.Planch. & Linden, figured as
E. amazonica at
t. 4971
of this work, but differs in having a thicker neck to the
bulb and in the united basal part of the filaments being
entirely adnate to the perianth-tube, leaving only the
emarginate lobes free. The free portion of the filament
springs from the sinus of the lobes and is marked on the
outer side by a vertical yellowish-green line. The leaf in
its general outline resembles that of
E. Sanderi, Baker,
figured at
t. 6676 of this work, along with which it was,
on its first appearance in cultivation, accidentally intro-
duced. In
E. Sanderi, however, there are fewer lateral
nerves and these are connected by much stronger trans-
verse veinlets. The fact that its affinities are so distinctly
with
E. grandflora and
E. Sanderi has led Mr. Baker, in
a note accompanying his original description of
E. Lowii,
to suggest that it may be a hybrid between these two
species. It thrives well under the cultural treatment
they require. It may be noted here that another plant
has been figured under Mr. Baker's name in the Journal
of Horticulture for 1894 at fig. 17, and that this figure
has been reproduced in the Bulletin of the Società
Toscana d'Orticultura for the same year at t. 4. The
plant so figured has, however, leaves which are not
cordate but taper to the base, so that it is not the true
E. Lowii.
DESCRIPTION. - Herb, perennial, bulb globose, neck
rather stout.
Leaves ovate-cordate, shortly cuspidate,
quite glabrous, 9 in. long, 7 in wide, lateral nerves
closely set, transverse connecting veinlets very fine;
petiole 12 in. long.
Peduncle 2 ft. high, 2-5-flowered;
bracts membranous, wide-lanceolate, 1¾ in. long, 1/3 in.
wide; pedicels stout, over 1/3 in. long.
Perianth white;
tube funnel-shaped, about 2½, in. long, the lower cylindric
portion 1/8 in. wide, the throat 1¾ in. across; lobes elliptic,
subacute, slightly concave, 2 in. long, 1¼ in. wide.
Staminal tube adnate to the perianth, its lobes emarginate,
marked outside by a vertical greenish-yellow line; free
portion of filaments ¾ in. long.
Ovary oblong, green, ¾ in.
wide; style much longer than the stamens.
Figs. 1 and 2, anthers ; 3, stigma : - all enlarged.