tite; segments in 2 series, imbricate or rarely valvate. Stamens 6, rarely 3, inserted towards the base of the perianth-segments and opposite to them, rarely hypogynous; filaments free or connate at the base; anthers oblong or linear, 2-celled, versatile. Ovary superior, 3-celled (sometimes imperfectly so in Astelia); style usually simple with a small terminal stigma, or more or less deeply divided into 3 stigmatic branches; ovules few or many in each cell, attached to the inner angle, usually anatropous. Fruit a 3-celled (rarely 1-celled) capsule or berry. Seeds 1 or more in each cell, globose or angular or flattened; testa frequently black, crustaceous or membranous; albumen copious, fleshy or horny; embryo small, terete.
A very large and important order, found all over the v/orld, but more abundant in temperate and subtropical regions than in the tropics. It is frequently divided into 3 or 4 separate orders, but in a small Flora it seems advisable to avoid extreme subdivision. Genera estimated at 190, species about 2500. The order has many useful species. The onion, leek, garlic, and asparagus are well-known edible plants. Aloes, squills, and sarsaparilla are important medicines. Phormium produces one of the strongest of vegetable fibres. Some are dangerous poisons, as white hellebore and meadow-saffron. Among the multitude of showy garden-plants it will be sufficient to mention the lily, tulip, hyacinth, asphodel, lily of the valley. Of the 10 genera found in New Zealand, Phormium extends to Norfolk Island; Rhipogonum, Herpolirion, and Arthropodium occur in Australia, the latter in New Caledonia as well; Enargea in Chili and the Falkland Islands; Astelia in Australia, the Pacific islands, and temperate South America; Bulbinella in South Africa; the remaining three (Cordyline, Dianella, and Iphigenia) are widely distributed.
| A. Fruit a berry. | |
| * Leaves with distant parallel primary veins connected by transverse veinlets. | |
| Tall branching climber. Leaves usually opposite. Flowers racemose or paniculate | 1. Rhipogonum. |
| Stems short, wiry, creeping. Leaves alternate. Flowers solitary or 2–3, axillary | 2. Enargea. |
| ** Veins of leaves not connected by transverse veinlets. | |
| Stems woody, usually arborescent. Leaves crowded at the ends of the stem or branches, glabrous. Flowers hermaphrodite; perianth deciduous | 3. Cordyline. |
| Large tufted herbs. Leaves all radical, more or less clothed with silky hairs. Flowers diœcious; perianth persistent | 4. Astelia. |
| Tufted herbs. Leaves all radical, glabrous. Flowers hermaphrodite; filaments thickened upwards | 5. Dianella. |
| B. Fruit a capsule. | |
| Leaves long, narrow, coriaceous. Scape tall, branched above. Perianth tubular, curved | 6. Phormium. |
| Leaves, linear, fleshy. Scape stout, naked, Flowers racemose, yellow; filaments naked | 7. Bulbinella. |
| Scape stout, with leafy bracts. Flowers panicled, white; pedicels jointed in the middle. Filaments bearded | 8. Arthropodium. |
