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.