28. NARTHeCIUM, Moehring. BOG-ASPHODEL.

Sepals 6, linear-lanceolate, yellowish, persistent. Filaments 6, woolly; anthers linear, introrse. Capsule cylindrical-oblong, attenuate upward and bearing the slightly lobed sessile stigma, loculicidal, many-seeded.

Seeds ascending, appendaged at each end with a long bristle-form tail.--Rootstock creeping, bearing linear equitant leaves, and a simple stem or scape, terminated by a simple dense bracteate raceme; pedicels bearing a linear bractlet. (Name an anagram of _Antheric.u.m_, from ?????????, supposed to have been the Asphodel.)

1. N. Americanum, Ker. Stem 1 high or more; leaves 1" wide, 7--9-nerved; raceme dense (1--2' long); perianth-segments narrowly linear (2--2" long), scarcely exceeding the stamens. (N. ossifragum, var. Americanum, _Gray_.)--Sandy bogs, pine-barrens of N. J. June, July.

29. MELaNTHIUM, Linn.

Flowers monciously polygamous. Perianth of 6 separate and free widely spreading somewhat heart-shaped or oblong and halberd-shaped or oblanceolate sepals, raised on slender claws, cream-colored or greenish, the base marked with 2 approximate or confluent glands, or glandless, turning greenish brown and persistent. Filaments shorter than the sepals, adhering to their claws often to near the summit, persistent.

Anthers heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, confluently 1-celled, shield-shaped after opening, extrorse. Styles 3, awl-shaped, diverging, tipped with simple stigmas. Capsule ovoid-conical, 3-lobed, of 3 inflated membranaceous carpels united in the axis, separating when ripe, and splitting down the inner edge, several-seeded. Seeds flat, broadly winged.--Stems tall and leafy, from a thick rootstock, roughish-downy above, as well as the open and ample pyramidal panicle (composed chiefly of simple racemes), the terminal part mostly fertile. Leaves linear to oblanceolate or oval, not plaited. (Name composed of ??a?, _black_, and ?????, _flower_, from the darker color which the persistent perianth a.s.sumes after blossoming.)

[*] _Sepals with a conspicuous double gland at the summit of the claw._

1. M. Virginic.u.m, L. (BUNCH-FLOWER.) Stem 3--5 high, leafy, rather slender; leaves linear (4--10" wide); sepals flat, ovate to oblong or slightly hastate (2--4" long); capsule 6" long; seeds 10 in each cell, 2--3" long.--Wet meadows, N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn. and Tex.

2. M. latiflium, Desrouss. Leaves more oblanceolate, often 2' broad; sepals undulate (2--3" long), the very narrow claw nearly equalling the orbicular or ovate blade; capsule 6--8" long; styles more slender; seeds 4--8 in each cell, 3--4" long. (M. racemosum, _Michx._)--W. Conn.

to S. C.

[*][*] _Sepals oblanceolate, without glands._

3. M. parviflrum, Watson. Stem rather slender (2--5 high), sparingly leafy, naked above; leaves oval to oblanceolate (2--4' wide), on long petioles; sepals 2--3" long, oblanceolate or spatulate, those of the sterile flowers on claws; stamens very short; capsule 6" long; seeds 4--6 in each cell, 4" long. (Veratrum parviflorum, _Michx._)--In the Alleghanies, Va. to S. C.

30. VERaTRUM, Tourn. FALSE h.e.l.lEBORE.

Flowers monciously polygamous. Perianth of 6 spreading and separate obovate-oblong (greenish or brownish) sepals, more or less contracted at the base (but not clawed), nearly free from the ovary, not gland-bearing. Filaments free from the sepals and shorter than they, recurving. Anthers, pistils, fruit, etc., nearly as in Melanthium.--Somewhat p.u.b.escent perennials, with simple stems from a thickened base producing coa.r.s.e fibrous roots (very poisonous), 3-ranked, plaited and strongly veined leaves, and racemed-panicled dull or dingy flowers; in summer. (Name from _vere_, truly, and _ater_, black.)

1. V. viride, Ait. (AMERICAN WHITE h.e.l.lEBORE. INDIAN POKE.) _Stem stout, very leafy_ to the top (2--7 high); _leaves broadly oval_, pointed, _sheath-clasping; panicle pyramidal_, the _dense spike-like racemes_ spreading; _perianth yellowish-green_, moderately spreading, _the segments ciliate-serrulate; ovary glabrous_; capsule many-seeded.--Swamps and low grounds, common.

2. V. Woodii, Robbins. _Stem slender, sparingly leafy_ (2--5 high); _leaves oblanceolate_, only the lowest sheathing; _panicle very narrow; perianth greenish-purple, with entire segments; ovary tomentose_, soon glabrate; capsule few-seeded.--Woods and hilly barrens, S. Ind. to Mo.

31. STENaNTHIUM, Gray.

Flowers polygamous. Perianth spreading; the sepals narrowly lanceolate, tapering to a point from the broader base, where they are united and coherent with the base of the ovary, not gland-bearing, persistent, much longer than the short stamens. Anthers, capsules, etc., nearly as in Veratrum. Seeds nearly wingless.--Smooth, with a wand-like leafy stem from a bulbous base, long and gra.s.s-like conduplicate-keeled leaves, and numerous small flowers in compound racemes, forming a long terminal panicle; in summer. (Name composed of ste???, _narrow_, and ?????, _flower_, from the slender sepals and panicles.)

1. S. angustiflium, Gray. Stem leafy (3--4 high), _very slender; leaves 2--3" broad_; panicle elongated, nearly simple, very open, with slender flexuous branches; flowers nearly sessile or the fertile on short pedicels; sepals linear-lanceolate (white), 2--3" long; _capsule strongly reflexed_, narrowly oblong-ovate, with spreading beaks.--In the Alleghanies from Va. to S. C.

2. S. robustum, Watson. Resembling the last; _stem stout_, leafy, erect (3--5 high); _leaves 4--10" broad_; panicle or raceme often 2 long, frequently compound with numerous slender branches; sepals (white or green) 3--4" long; _capsule erect_, ovate, with recurved beaks.--Penn.

to S. C., Ohio and Tenn.

32. ZYGADeNUS, Michx.

Flowers perfect or polygamous. Perianth withering-persistent, spreading; the petal-like oblong or ovate sepals 1--2-glandular near the more or less narrowed but not unguiculate base, which is either free, or united and coherent with the base of the ovary. Stamens free from the sepals and about their length. Anthers, styles, and capsule nearly as in Melanthium. Seeds angled, rarely at all margined.--Very smooth and somewhat glaucous perennials, with simple stems from creeping rootstocks or coated bulbs, linear leaves, and rather large panicled greenish-white flowers; in summer. (Name composed of ?????, _a yoke_, and ?d??, _a gland_, the glands being sometimes in pairs.)

[*] _Glands on the perianth conspicuous._

[+] _Rootstock creeping; glands 2, orbicular, above the broad claw._

1. Z. glaberrimus, Michx. Stems 1--3 high; leaves gra.s.s-like, channelled, conspicuously nerved, elongated, tapering to a point; panicle pyramidal, many-flowered; flowers perfect; sepals nearly free (' long), ovate, becoming lance-ovate, with a short claw.--Gra.s.sy low grounds, Va. to Fla. and Ala.

[+][+] _Root bulbous; glands covering the base of the sepals._

2. Z. elegans, Pursh. Stem 1--3 high; leaves flat, carinate; raceme simple or sparingly branched and few-flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate; base of the perianth coherent with the base of the ovary, the thin ovate or obovate sepals marked with a large obcordate gland, the inner abruptly contracted to a broad claw. (Z. glaucus, _Nutt._)--N. Eng. to N. Ill., Minn., and westward.

3. Z. Nuttallii, Gray. Like the last; raceme rather densely flowered, with narrow bracts; perianth free; sepals with an ill-defined gland at base, not at all clawed; seeds larger (3" long).--Kan. to Tex. and Col.

[*][*] _Glands of the perianth obscure; perianth small, rotate; bulb somewhat fibrous._

4. Z. leimanthodes, Gray. Stem 1--4 high, slender; leaves narrowly linear; flowers small (4" in diameter) and numerous, in a few crowded panicled racemes; only a yellowish spot on the contracted base of the divisions of the free perianth.--Low grounds, pine-barrens of N. J., to Ga.

33. AMIaNTHIUM, Gray. FLY-POISON.

Flowers perfect. Perianth widely spreading; the distinct and free petal-like (white) sepals oval or obovate, without claws or glands, persistent. Filaments capillary, equalling or exceeding the perianth.

Anthers, capsules, etc., nearly as in Melanthium. Styles thread-like.

Seeds wingless, oblong or linear, with a loose coat, 1--4 in each cell.--Glabrous, with simple stems from a bulbous base or coated bulb, scape-like, few-leaved, terminated by a simple dense raceme of handsome flowers, turning greenish with age. Leaves linear, keeled, gra.s.s-like.

(From ??a?t??, _unspotted_, and ?????, _flower_; a name formed with more regard to euphony than to good construction, alluding to the glandless perianth.)

1. A. muscaetoxic.u.m, Gray. (FLY-POISON.) _Leaves broadly linear_, elongated, obtuse (--1' wide); _raceme simple_; capsule abruptly 3-horned; seeds oblong, with a fleshy red coat.--Open woods, N. J. to Fla., west to Ky. and Ark. June, July.

ORDER 117. PONTEDERIaCEae. (PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY.)

_Aquatic herbs, with perfect more or less irregular flowers from a spathe; the petal-like 6-merous perianth free from the 3-celled ovary; the 3 or 6 mostly unequal or dissimilar stamens inserted in its throat._--Perianth with the 6 divisions colored alike, _imbricated_ in 2 rows in the bud, the whole together sometimes revolute-coiled after flowering, then withering away, or the base thickened-persistent and enclosing the fruit. Anthers introrse. Ovules anatropous. Style 1; stigma 3-lobed or 6-toothed. Fruit a perfectly or incompletely 3-celled many-seeded capsule, or a 1-celled 1-seeded utricle. Embryo slender, in floury alb.u.men.

1. Pontederia. Spike many-flowered. Perianth 2-lipped, its fleshy persistent base enclosing the 1-seeded utricle. Stamens 6.

2. Heteranthera. Spathe 1--few-flowered. Perianth salver-shaped.

Stamens 3. Capsule many-seeded.

1. PONTEDeRIA, L. PICKEREL-WEED.

Perianth funnel-form, 2-lipped; the 3 upper divisions united to form the 3-lobed upper lip; the 3 lower spreading, and their claws, which form the lower part of the curving tube, more or less separate or separable to the base; after flowering the tube is revolute-coiled from the apex downward, and its fleshy-thickened persistent base encloses the fruit.

Stamens 6; the 3 anterior long-exserted; the 3 posterior (often sterile or imperfect) with very short filaments, unequally inserted lower down; anthers versatile, oval, blue. Ovary 3-celled; two of the cells empty, the other with a single suspended ovule. Utricle 1-celled, filled with the single seed.--Stout herbs, growing in shallow water, with thick creeping rootstocks, producing erect long-petioled mostly heart-shaped leaves, and a 1-leaved stem, bearing a spike of violet-blue ephemeral flowers. Root-leaves with a sheathing stipule within the petiole.

(Dedicated to _Pontedera_, Professor at Padua at the beginning of the last century.)

1. P. cordata, L. Leaves arrow-heart-shaped, blunt, or sometimes triangular-elongated and tapering and scarcely cordate (var.

ANGUSTIFLIA, Torr.); spike dense, from a spathe-like bract; upper lobe of perianth marked with a pair of yellow spots (rarely all white); calyx-tube in fruit crested with 6 toothed ridges.--N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn. and Tex. July--Sept.

2. HETERANTHeRA, Ruiz & Pav. MUD-PLANTAIN.

Perianth salver-form with a slender tube; the limb somewhat equally 6-parted, ephemeral. Stamens 3, in the throat, usually unequal; anthers erect. Capsule 1-celled or incompletely 3-celled by intrusion of the placentae, many-seeded.--Creeping, floating or submerged low herbs, in mud or shallow water, with a 1--few-flowered spathe bursting from the sheathing side or base of a petiole. (Name from ?t??a, _different_, and ??????, _anther_.)