Curtis's botanical magazine Author:William Jackson Hooker Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: M. truncatellum was introduced into Kew in 1795, by F. Masson, one of the travellers attached to the establishment, and is described as flowering in November; ou... more »r plant was sent by Principal MacOwan, of Gill College, Somerset East, and flowered in October 1873; it is a very rare species, was unknown to the Prince Salm Dyck, and is hence not included in his magnificent work; it has never before been figured. Descr. Plant forming tufts of pale glaucous green, obconic, truncate, translucent fleshy masses, one to three inches in diameter, with a flat or convex rather tubercled brown surface ; each branch on plant, consisting of four leaves in opposite pairs, placed cross-wise. Leaves very fleshy, broadly cuneate, connate to above the middle; back convex; face convex; crown 'unate.brown, mottled, convex; the first formed fleshy leaves, after developing another pair between them, shrink into a mere membranous pellicle that sheaths the base of the younger pair. Flower solitary, sessile, one and a half inches in diameter. Calyx-tube sunk and tightly-wedged between the two uppermost leaves; limb 5-6-cleft, lobes obtuse, tinged purple. Petals in two series, very numerous, straw-coloured. Stamens very numerous, anthers yellow. Styles 5, slender, tips uncurved.—/. D. H. Fig. 1, Leaf; 2,flower with two sepals, and petals of same side removed:— loth magnified. COLCHICUM Speciosum. Native of the Caucasus. Nat. Ord. Melanthace;.—Tribe Colchice.e. Genus Colchicum, Town.; (Endl. Gen. Plant., p. 137). Colchiccm speciosum; robustum, hysteranthum, cormo znagnit. judglandis, foliis 4-5 late elliptico-lanceolatis, perianthii late purpurei tubo crassitie pennse anserinse 6-12-pollicari, limbo 5 poll. diam. segmentis ellipticis apice rotundatis concoloribus non tessellatis, antheris elong...« less