The American Botanist, Vol. 23

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Excerpt from The American Botanist, Vol. 23: A Quarterly Journal of Economic and Ecological BotanyThough called lilies, these plants are lillies by courtesy only. They really belong to the allied family of the Amaryl lidaceae which is characterized by lily-like ¿owers with the ovary inferior instead of superior as in the lilies. Our plant was once considered an Amaryllis in good standing, but the generic name is now retained for species with zygomorphic (irregular) ¿0wers, while those species with regular ¿owers are included in the genus Z ephyramthes, named from Z ephyros the west wind. The generic name has apparently suggested the book names of zephyr lily and ¿ower of the west wind. A good example of a true Amaryllis is the well-known Johnson lily (amaryllis Johnsoni) whose red ¿owers in clusters at the top of a tall stalk are familiar sights in many plant collections. The plant commonly cultivated as the fairy lily seems to be Zephyranthes carina'ta which grows wild in the West Indies and Mexico. The catalogues usually list only 2. Rosea but this is a smaller and autumn ¿owering species which grows in Cuba. If rosea is ordered, however, it is likely that can'nata will be sent. The nurserymen only approximate correctness in nomenclature.A companion species to the fairy lily is a pure white ¿ow ered form, Zephyranthes candida, native of the marshes along the La Plata, It is not a mere albino form of carinata or rosea but may be distinguished from these by the possession of a capitate stigma. The others have a three-lobed stigma. A yellow-¿owered species Z. Texana may occasionally be had but no recent catalogue that we have consulted contains it. There are several other species in the warmer parts of the world and one Z. Atamasco grows wild as far north as Virginia, and still farther if protected in winter. It may be added that certain botanists have recently attempted to change the generic name of the fairy lilies to Atamosco. The species of eastern America which is commonly called the atamasco lily would in the new terminology be called A lamasco atamaseo (both terms are cor rectly spelled) but we are thankful that no law obliges us to call it that!About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.