Cyanella
(from the diminutive of kyanos, blue). ORD. Liliaceae. Pretty little bulbous plants, from the Cape of Good Hope. Perianth segments six, the three lower ones hanging down; style and lowest stamen declinate. Capsule roundish, three-celled. Leaves radical, rarely cauline (attached to the base of the stem), lanceolate, or linear. For culture, &c., see Ixia. C. capensis (Cape). fl. purple; racemes divaricating. July and August. l. lanceolate, wavy. Stem leafy, panicled. h. 1ft. 1768. (B. M. 568.) C. lutea (yellow). This differs from C. capensis in having a stem with only one or two upright branches, instead of one with many branches and those horizontally spreading or divaricate; in the leaves not being undulate, and in having a larger and different-coloured corolla. h. 1ft. 1788. (B. M. 1252.) C. odoratissima (very fragrant).* fl. deep rose, afterwards fading to a pale blush, very sweet-scented, on long peduncles, having a single bract below their middle; anthers yellow, the five upper spotted. July, August. l., radical ones ensiform, straight, dark green; stem ones linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Stem erect, round, somewhat branched, flexuose. h. 1ft. This plant does not succeed in the open air, although it has been frequently reported as hardy. (B. R. 1111.) Other species are: alba (white) and orchidiformis (blue).