Liliaceae. Tribe Scilleae.
Ornithogalum, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 815.
Ornithogalum Roodeae, Phillips, sp. nov. Bulbus globosus, albus. Folia 3, ad 26 cm. longa, basi 2·5 cm. lata, lanceolata, acuminata, glabra. Pedunculus ad 25 cm. longus, glaber. Inflorescentia 4 cm. longa, circiter 6 cm. lata. Bracteae 1·4-2·5 cm. longae, ovato-lanceolatae, acuminatae, membranaceae. Pedicelli 1·1-2·5 cm. longi. Segmenta perianthii 1·2 cm. longa, 4 mm. lata, oblongo-lanceolata, apice papillosa. Filamenta 8 mm. longa, basi 1·5 lata, lanceolata, acuminata. Ovarium 5 mm. longum, 2.5 mm. latum, glabrum; stylus 6 mm. longus; stigma semiglobosum, papillosum.
This handsome Ornithogalum was collected by Mr. E. Rood at Van Rhynsdorp, and forwarded to the Division of Botany, Pretoria. The perianth segments are a deep reddish-brown, edged with white, and the flowers are extremely fragrant. Specimens were sent to Kew, and the Director reports that the plant had not been matched, the nearest affinity being O. suaveolens, Jacq., and that it was evidently a new species. This species exhibits a device for cross-pollination by the movement of the style. As soon as the flower opens the style bends downwards, and is thus in a position to receive pollen from the abdomen of a visiting insect. As the flowers wither the perianth segments close up, and the style becomes erect and would then be self-pollinated if cross-pollination has not taken place.
Description:—Bulb 2·2 cm. long, 2·8 cm. in diameter, globose, white. Leaves 3, up to 26 cm. long, 2·5 cm. broad at the base, lanceolate (when opened flat), becoming deeply channelled above, acuminate, clasping at the base, glabrous. Peduncle up to 25 cm. long, greenish-brown, glabrous. Infloresence about 14-flowered, more or less corymbose, 4 mm. long, about 6 cm. in diameter. Bracts 1·4-2·5 cm. long, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate into a long fine point, membranous, as long as the pedicels. Pedicels 1·1-2·5 cm. long, terete. Perianth-segments free to the base, spreading, 1·2 cm. long, 4 mm. broad, oblong-lanceolate, dark purple with white margins, 5-nerved; the outer cucullate at the apex with a fringe of short glandular hairs; the inner rounded and fringed with short glandular hairs. Filaments 8 mm. long, 1·5 mm. broad in widest part, lanceolate, acuminate, more or less compressed below, convex on both sides above; anthers 4 mm. long, oblong, each lobe with a short beak. Ovary 5 mm. long, 2·5 mm. in diameter, 3-lobed, glabrous; style 6 mm. long, semiterete; the style in open flowers bent away from stamens and later becoming sharply bent; stigma semiglobose, covered with glandular hairs.
Plate 75.—Fig. 1, flower; Fig. 2, bract; Fig. 3, stamen; Fig. 4, cross-section of ovary; Fig. 5, gynaecium; Fig. 6, outer perianth-segments, front and side views; Fig. 7, inner perianth-segments, front and side views.
F.P.S.A., 1922.