ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
Corolla 6-petala, patens, æqualis. Stigmata tria, erectiusculo patula.
Blossom six petals, spreading, and equal. Summits three, nearly upright, and spreading.
See Ixia reflexa, Plate XIV.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Ixia foliis falcatis, glabris, scapo brevioribus, axillis bulbiferis; floribus alternis, luteis.
Ixia with scimitar-shaped leaves, smooth, and shorter than the flower-stem, bearing bulbs at their insertion into the stalk; flowers alternate, and yellow.
REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The Empalement.
2. A Flower cut open, with the Chives attached.
3. The Shaft, Summit, and Seed-bud, (magnified).
The singular sporting of Nature in the Ixia bulbifera is not uncommon; its viviparous character (if it may be so called) constitutes a specific difference in many genera; Lilium, Lysimachia, &c. partake of it. The bulbs produced from the stem blow the second year, whereas those from seeds do not till the third. The flowers of this variety are the first that open, amongst the numerous species yet introduced, of this extensive genus; they are of a brilliant yellow, and seldom expand more than one at a time. The usual treatment of other Cape Ixias is suitable for this. The drawing was made at Messrs. Lee and Kennedy’s, in the month of March 1798, they having introduced it about the year 1784.[Pg 194]