Manual of the New Zealand Flora.
10. Iphigenia, Kunth
10. Iphigenia, Kunth.
Small glabrous herbs. Bulb tunicated. Stem simple, erect. Leaves few, scattered, linear, sheathing the stem. Flowers small, erect, solitary or corymbose. Perianth 6-partite, deciduous; seg-ments free, all similar, linear or linear-oblong, spreading, flat. Stamens 6, hypogynous, shorter than the perianth; filaments flat; anthers oblong, versatile. Ovary superior, sessile, 3-celled; ovules numerous in each cell; styles 3, shortly connate at the base, linear, recurved, stigmatic along the inner edge. Capsule ovoid or oblong, 3–6-sulcate, 3-celled, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds small, glo-bose; testa thin, brown, appressed.
Besides the New Zealand species, which is endemic, there are two from India, one of which is also found in Australia, and one each from tropical Africa and Madagascar.
1. | I. novæ-zealandiæ, Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. xvii. (1879) 451.—Bulb (corm) subglobose,⅓ in. diam.; sheaths reddish, mem-branous. Stem 1–2 in. high. Leaves 2 or rarely 3, ½–3 in. long, narrow-linear, sheathing the greater part of the stem and exceed-ing it. Flower solitary, ¼ in. diam. Perianth - segments 4–6, ob-lanceolate, acute, with 6–8 longitudinal veins. Stamens 4–6, slightly shorter than the segments; anthers white, subglobose. Ovary broadly oblong, 2–3-celled; styles 2, rarely 3, subulate. Capsule broadly oblong, usually 2-celled, ⅙–⅕ in. diam.—Anguil-laria novæ-zealandiæ, Hook. f. ex T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) App. xi. South Island: Canterbury— Lyall; swamps near Christchurch, Arm-strong! near Burnham, Kirk! Banks Peninsula, Cockayne! Lake Grassmere, J.D.Enys! Kangitata Valley, Haast! Otago—Obepopo, Petrie! Sea-level to 2500 ft. November–December. |