Pyrolirion aureum

Nat. ord. AMARYLLIDEÆ. (Introduction to the Natural System of Botany, p. 259.) PYROLIRION. Herbert. - Scapus uniflorus, cavus. Flos sessilis, campanulato-infundibularis, erectus, laciniis æqualibus acutis apice recurvis, tubo cylindraceo spathæ bifidæ subæquali. Stamina æqualiter patentia, tubi fauce nudâ inserta; tribus longioribus. Antheræ biloculares. Ovarium 3-loculare, polyspermum, ovulis horizontalibus planis; stigma trifidum: laciniis linearibus apice dilatatis.

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P. aureum. Herbert in Bot. Mag. append. p. 37. Amaryllis peruviana. Poir. enc. meth. suppl. 1. 315. Ker in Bot. Mag. 1089. Römer et Schult. Syst. Veg. 7. 805. Amaryllis aurea. Fl. Peruv. vol. 3. t. 286. a. p. 56. Bulbus subrotundus, paululum turbinatus, pallidè fuscus, castaneæ parvæ magnitudine. Folia 2na v. solitaria (in cultâ), linearia, apice angus- tata, atroviridia, canaliculata, apice recurva. Scapus teres, cavus, uniflorus, in cultâ foliis brevior, in spontaneis longior, et robustior. Spatha membra- nacea, bifida, tubo paulo longior. Flos sessilis in scapo, amœnè aureus, in cultâ vix 3-pollicaris, in spontanea 4-poll. Perianthium infundibulare, in tubum angustatum, supra tubum subventricosum, vel quasi angustè campanu- latum, sed nullo modo abruptè constrictum ut in icone Fl. Per. quæ ad sic- cum confecta videtur. Sepala lanceolata, acuta, usque ad tubum distincta, ibi conferruminata ; Petala conformia, omnia æqualia, et æqualiter patentia. Stamina fauce tubi inserta, filamentis versus basin sensim incrassatis, sed ne- quaquam ex squama oriundis ; tria paululum breviora ; omnia æqualiter patentia. Antheræ lineares, versatiles. Ovarium oblongum, cum scapo conti- nuum, obscurè trigonum, triloculare, polyspermum ; ovula plana, horizonta- lia. Stylus simplex, teres; stigmata 3, linearia, apice dilatata, minute papil- losa.

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Introduced from Peru by Richard Harrison, Esq. of Li- verpool, and communicated to us in flower in April last. It is said by the authors of the Flora Peruviana to be com-

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* Literally Fire-lily, from the colour of the flowers.

mon about Lima in fields and hedges, flowering in January and February, and that it is called Hamancæ de Antibo, which means satiny Hamanca. We have wild specimens gathered near Lima by Mr. Mathews (No. 400). There is no doubt of its being the Amaryllis aurea of the Flora Peruviana, notwithstanding its smaller size, which is owing to cultivation, its longer style, which it may be sup- posed is more fully formed than the Perianth, and some dis- crepancies between it and the figure given by Ruiz and Pavon. The latter appears to have been made from a dried specimen, and is very inaccurate in many respects. In the first place, the flower is represented as stalked; certainly it is sessile; secondly, the stamens are said to arise from scales in the mouth of the tube; there are no such scales ; and finally, all that concerns the form of the tube of the flower and the ovary is a mere caricature. Whether or not the genus Pyrolirion is a good one, we have not the means at hand of determining to our satisfac- tion; as it has not any such campanulate flower as has been represented by Ruiz and Pavon, the most prominent feature in its supposed character is done away with, and then it becomes difficult to separate it from Zephyranthes; it differs, however, from that genus in its sessile flowers, which we incline to consider a character of much importance, and in the dilatation of the points of its stigma into little spoons. From Oporanthus, which is totally different from Sternbergia, it is chiefly its stigma and the reflexed points of its perianth which distinguish it, unless the seeds should prove different, as the form of the ovules renders probable. In the mean while, until the remainder of the structure of this plant shall have been ascertained, we adopt Mr. Herbert's name, without however attempting to define the species, for we do not see what are the distinctive characters of either P. flavum or flammeum.