| Tall and stout, 1–2½ ft. Leaves fleshy, 1–2 in. broad. Flowers ¾–1 in. diam. | 1. A. cirrhatum. |
| Slender, 3–12 in. high. Leaves grassy, flaccid, 110–14 in. broad. Flowers ¼ in. diam. | 2. A. candidum. |
1. A. cirrhatum, R. Br. in Bot. Mag. t. 2350.—A perfectly glabrous tufted herb 1–3 ft. high; root with copious long fleshy fibres. Leaves numerous, spreading, 1–2 ft. long, 1–2½ in. broad, lanceolate or oblanceolate, acute or acuminate, narrowed to an equitant and subdistichous base, flat or obtusely keeled, rather fleshy. Scape stout, terete, naked; panicle large, often 1 ft. long, deltoid, much branched; primary bracts broad, foliaceous. Flowers white, ¾–1 in. diam., 1–3 together along the branches of the panicle; pedicels ⅓–⅔ in. long. Perianth-segments oblong-lanceolate, acuminate. Filaments filiform at the base, provided above the middle with a thickened densely woolly appendage, which is produced downwards into 2 woolly tails. Capsule oblong-globose, ⅓ in. long. Seeds black, opaque, angular.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 299; Raoul, Choix, 40; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 254; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 285. Anthericum cirratum, Forst. Prodr. n. 148; A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 155.
North Island: From the Three Kings Islands and the North Cape to Wellington, not uncommon, especially near the sea. South Island: Nelson—Takaka, Kingsley; West Wanganui, Hursthouse. Rengarenga. November–December.
This differs from the other species of the genus in the woolly thickening at the middle of the filament being 2-lobed at the base, the lobes being revolute at the tip, somewhat after the fashion of a tendril, from whence the specific name.
2. A. candidum, Raoul, Choix Pl. Nouv. Zel. 14, t. 6.—A small slender glabrous herb 3–14 in. high; stem often swollen below the leaves and almost bulbous; roots long, fleshy. Leaves variable in length, 2–10 in. long, 110–14 in. broad, very narrow-linear, flat, grassy, membranous and flaccid. Scape very slender; raceme simple, rarely branched, usually overtopping the leaves. Flowers few or many, usually secund, solitary or the lower ones in twos or threes, white, ¼ in. diam.; pedicels slender, spreading or drooping; bracts long, linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Filaments naked at the base, then densely hairy almost up to the anther. Capsule globose, membranous, ⅙ in. diam. Seeds 2–3 in each cell, black, angled.—Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 254; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 285. A. reflexum, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xviii. (1886) 275. A. ramulosum, Col. l.c. xxv. (1893) 337.
North and South Islands: From Cape Colville southwards to Foveaux Strait, not uncommon. Sea-level to 3500 ft. November–January.
I cannot see upon what grounds Mr. Colenso has distinguished his two species. The type specimens in his herbarium exactly match ordinary states o£ A. candidum.
