Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/278

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Native of North America, from Quebec to lake Mistassins, according to Michaux. Our specimen was gathered by Mr. Menzies, on the west coast of North America, and is the same with what Mr. Pursh saw in the Banksian herbarium. We have no reason to suspect the plant of Michaux to be different. He says it has "the habit of the Linnæan Anthericum ossifragum," and that "the spike consists of a few alternate fasciculi; the capsule is ovate, twice as long as the calyx." By calyx, he means corolla, and by spica, racemus, as is evident from the rest of his account. Mr. Pursh therefore is inaccurate in copying his phraseology, which contradicts his own generic character of Tofieldia.

Mr. Menzies's specimen has a thick tuberous horizontal root, with long simple brown fibres, being undoubtedly perennial, like the rest of the genus. Stem erect, a foot high, angular, at least when dry, roughish all over with short glandular hairs; more densely hairy for the space of two inches from the top, where it bears a small leafy bractea, possibly not constant. Leaves rather few, all radical, except one or two on the very lowest part of the stem, which do not rise above the others; they are all erect, four or five inches long, narrow, ribbed, bright green, smooth, except a slight roughness towards the point. Cluster scarcely an inch in length, ovate, obtuse, of twelve or fourteen flowers, on hairy stalks, sometimes in pairs, hardly a quarter of an inch long, erect or slightly spreading, having at the base one or two membranous acute bracteas, one-third their own length. Calyx not deeply lobed. Petals yellowish, obovate, about as long as the stalks.