Amaryllidææ

Amaryllidææ, or AMARYLLIDACEÆ, a natural order of petaloid Monocotyledons, essentially distinguished from Liliaceæ by their inferior ovary, and including many species distinguished by the beauty of their flowers. They are herbaceous plants, or when, as in the genera Agave and Fourcroya, they form woody stems, they have still the character of gigantic herbs rather than of shrubs. The greater part are bulbous-rooted. There are about 400 known species, natives of tropical or sub-tropical, and more sparingly of temperate regions, but particularly abundant at the Cape of Good Hope. A few species only are European. Many of them are much-prized ornaments of our gardens and hothouses. Amongst these are different species of Narcissus, Amaryllis, Alstroemeria, Pancratium, &c. (q.v.). To this order belong the Snowdrop and Snowflake, and it includes also the American Aloe (Agave). Sternbergia lutea is said to be the lily of the field referred to in the Sermon on the Mount. The properties of the Amaryllidææ are rarely very distinct; the Agave (q.v.), however, yields its juice, the bulbs of snowdrop and daffodil are emetic, and the juice of Hamanthus toxicarius is used by the Hottentots as an arrow-poison.