Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/758

718 long, broadly ovoid. Seeds usually 2 in each cell, trigonous; testa black, shining.—Chrysobactron Rossii, ''Hook. f. Fl. Antarct.'' i. 72, t. 44, 45. Anthericum Rossii, ''Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 285.

2. B. Hookeri, Benth. and Hook. f. Gen. Plant,. iii. 784.—Very variable in size, usually from 1 to 2 ft. high, but sometimes attaining 3 ft., and occasionally dwarfed to 3 or 4 in. Leaves numerous, narrower in proportion than in B. Rossii, ⅙–¾ in. broad, narrow-linear, gradually tapering upwards, channelled in front, glabrous. Scape much more slender than in B. Rossii; racemes not so dense - flowered, varymg in length from 1 to 10 in. Flowers ⅓ in. diam., bright-yellow, hermaphrodite; pedicels slender, longer or shorter than the lanceolate bracts. Perianth-segments linear-oblong, obtuse, spreadmg. Stamens ¾ the length of the segments; filaments very slender, glabrous. Capsule oblong, ¼ in. long.—Chrysobactron Hookeri, ''Col. in Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 817; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 255; Bot. Mag.'' t. 4602. Anthericum Hookeri, ''Col. in Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 286.

Tufted perennial herbs, with fleshy fibrous roots. Leaves radical or crowded near the base of the stem, linear or lanceolate, sheathing at the base. Scape or peduncle simple or branched above. Flowers in simple or branched racemes or panicles, white or purplish; pedicels slender, jointed at the middle, solitary or few together in the axil of a scarious bract. Perianth persistent but not twisted, 6-partite; segments distinct, spreading, 3-nerved, subequal or the inner rather broader. Stamens 6, hypogynous or attached to the very base of the segments, shorter than the perianth; filaments bearded; anthers linear, erect, basifixed, introrsely dehiscent. Ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules several in each cell; style filiform; stigma small. Capsule subglobose, loculicidally 3-valved. Seeds usually few in each cell, angular; testa black, smooth or minutely granulate.