[*] _Stamens unequal; 2 posterior filaments with ovate yellow anthers; the other longer, with a larger oblong or sagittate greenish anther; capsule incompletely 3-celled; leaves rounded, long-petioled; creeping or floating plants._

1. H. reniformis, Ruiz & Pav. Leaves round-kidney-shaped to cordate and acute; spathe 3--5-flowered; flowers white or pale blue.--Conn. to N. J., west to Ill. and E. Kan., and southward. (S. Am.)

2. H. limsa, Vahl. Leaves oblong or lance-oblong, obtuse at both ends; spathe 1-flowered; flowers larger, blue.--Va. to Mo. and La. (S. Am.)

[*][*] _Stamens alike, with sagittate anthers; capsule 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentae; leaves linear, translucent, sessile; submerged gra.s.s-like herbs, with only the flowers reaching the surface._

3. H. graminea, Vahl. The slender branching stems clothed with leaves and bearing a terminal 1-flowered spathe (becoming lateral); flowers small, pale yellow, with a very long thread-like tube. (Schollera graminifolia, _Willd._)--N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn. and E. Kan.

ORDER 118. XYRIDaCEae. (YELLOW-EYED-GRa.s.s FAMILY.)

_Rush-like herbs, with equitant leaves sheathing the base of a naked scape, which is terminated by a head of perfect 3-androus flowers, with extrorse anthers, glumaceous calyx, and a regular colored corolla; the 3-valved mostly 1-celled capsule containing several or many orthotropous seeds with a minute embryo at the apex of fleshy alb.u.men._

1. X?RIS, Gronov. YELLOW-EYED GRa.s.s.

Flowers single in the axils of coriaceous scale-like bracts, which are densely imbricated in a head. Sepals 3; the 2 lateral glume-like, boat-shaped or keeled and persistent; the anterior one larger and membranaceous, enwrapping the corolla in the bud and deciduous with it.

Petals 3, with claws, which cohere more or less. Fertile stamens 3, with linear anthers, inserted on the claws of the petals, alternating with 3 sterile filaments, which are cleft and in our species plumose or bearded at the apex. Style 3-cleft. Capsule oblong, free, 1-celled, with 3 parietal more or less projecting placentae, 3-valved, many-seeded.--Flowers yellow, produced all summer. Ours apparently all perennials. (?????, a name of some plant with 2-edged leaves, from ?????, a _razor_.)

1. X. flexusa, Muhl. Scape slender (10--16' high), barely flattened at the summit, often from a bulbous base, very smooth, much longer than the narrowly linear leaves, both commonly twisted with age; head roundish-ovoid (3--4" long); _lateral sepals_ oblong lanceolate, _finely ciliate-scarious on the narrow wingless keel_, usually with a minute bearded tuft at the apex, shorter than the bract.--Sandy or peaty bogs, Ma.s.s. to Fla., west to Minn. and Mo.

Var. puslla, Gray. Small and very slender, seldom twisted, 2--9' high, the base not bulbous; head 2--3" long.--White Mts. to Penn., west to L. Superior.

2. X. torta, Smith. Scape terete, with one sharp edge, slender, 9--20'

high, from a dark bulbous base, and with the _linear-filiform rigid leaves_ becoming spirally twisted; head ovoid, becoming spindle-shaped, or oblong and acute (5--9" long); sepals exceeding the bract; _lateral sepals winged on the keel and fringed above the middle_.--Pine barrens, in dry sand, N. J. to Fla., Tex. and Ark.

3. X. Caroliniana, Walt. Scape flattish, 1-angled below, 2-edged at the summit, smooth, --2 high, the base hardly bulbous; _leaves linear-sword-shaped, flat_, 2--4" broad; head globular-ovoid (5--7"

long); _lateral sepals obscurely lacerate-fringed above on the winged keel_, rather shorter than the bract.--Sandy swamps, near the coast, Ma.s.s. to Fla.

4. X. fimbriata, Ell. Scape somewhat angled, 2-edged above, rough (2 high), rather longer than the linear-sword-shaped or strap-shaped leaves, the base not bulbous; head oblong-ovate (6--10" long); _lateral sepals_ lanceolate-linear, _nearly twice the length of the bract, above the middle conspicuously fringed on the wing-margined keel, and even plumose at the summit_.--Pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

ORDER 119. MAYaCEae. (MAYACA FAMILY.)

_Moss-like aquatic plants, densely leafy, with narrowly-linear sessile pellucid leaves, axillary naked peduncles terminated by a solitary perfect 3-androus flower, herbaceous calyx, white corolla, and a 3-valved 1-celled several-seeded capsule._

1. MAYaCA, Aublet.

The only genus. Perianth persistent, of 3 herbaceous lanceolate sepals, and 3 obovate petals. Stamens alternate with the petals. Ovary with 3 parietal few-ovuled placentae; style filiform; stigma simple.--Creeping or floating in shallow water; the leaves 1-nerved, entire, notched at the apex; the peduncle solitary, sheathed at base. (An aboriginal name.)

1. M. Michauxii, Schott & Endl. Peduncles not much exceeding the leaves, nodding in fruit.--Va. to Fla. and Tex.

ORDER 120. COMMELINaCEae. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with fibrous or sometimes thickened roots, jointed and often branching leafy stems, and chiefly perfect and 6-androus, often irregular flowers, with the perianth free from the 2--3-celled ovary, and having a distinct calyx and corolla_; viz., 3 persistent commonly herbaceous sepals, and 3 petals, ephemeral, decaying or deciduous.

Stamens hypogynous, some of them often sterile; anthers with 2 separated cells. Style 1; stigma undivided. Capsule 2--3-celled, 2--3-valved, loculicidal, 3--several-seeded. Seeds orthotropous. Embryo small, pulley-shaped, partly sunk in a shallow depression at the apex of the alb.u.men. Leaves ovate, lanceolate or linear, parallel-veined, flat, sheathed at base; the uppermost often dissimilar and forming a kind of spathe.--Chiefly tropical.

1. Commelina. Cyme sessile within a cordate or connate bract (spathe).

Petals unequal. Perfect stamens 3; filaments naked.

2. Tradescantia. Bracts leaf-like or small and scarious. Petals equal.

Perfect stamens 6; filaments bearded.

1. COMMELNA, Dill. DAY-FLOWER.

Flowers irregular. Sepals somewhat colored, unequal; the 2 lateral partly united by their contiguous margins. Two lateral petals rounded or kidney-shaped, on long claws, the odd one smaller. Stamens unequal, 3 of them fertile, one of which is bent inward; 3 of them sterile and smaller, with imperfect cross-shaped anthers; filaments naked. Capsule 3-celled, two of the cells 2-seeded, the other 1-seeded or abortive.--Stems branching, often proc.u.mbent and rooting at the joints.

Leaves contracted at base into sheathing petioles; the floral one heart-shaped and clasping, folded together or hooded, forming a spathe enclosing the flowers, which expand for a single morning and are recurved on their pedicel before and afterwards. Petals blue. Flowering all summer. Ours all with perennial roots, or propagating by striking root from the joints. (Dedicated to the early Dutch botanists. _J._ and _G. Commelin_.)

[*] _Ventral cells 2-ovuled (usually 2-seeded), the dorsal 1-ovuled._

1. C. nudiflra, L. _Slender and creeping_, glabrous; leaves lanceolate, small (1--2' long); spathe cordate, acute, _with margins not united; seeds reticulated_. (C. Cayennensis, _Richard._)--Alluvial banks, Del.

to Fla., west to Ind., Mo. and Tex.

2. C. hirtella, Vahl. _Stout, erect_ (2--4 high); leaves large, lanceolate, _the sheaths brown-bearded_; spathes crowded, _with margins united; seeds smooth_. (C. erecta, _Gray_, Man., not _L._)--River-banks, Penn. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.

[*][*] _Cells 1-ovuled, 1-seeded; seeds smooth; spathe cucullate; roots sub-tuberous_.

3. C. erecta, L. Slender, often low; _leaves linear; cells all dehiscent_.--Penn. to Fla.

4. C. Virginica, L. Slender, usually tall; _leaves lanceolate_ to linear; _dorsal cell indehiscent, scabrous_.--Damp rich woods and banks, southern N. Y. to Fla., west to Mich., Iowa, and Mo.

2. TRADESCaNTIA, L. SPIDERWORT.

Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all alike, ovate, sessile.

Stamens all fertile; filaments bearded. Capsule 2--3-celled, the cells 1--2-seeded.--Perennials. Stems mucilaginous, mostly upright, nearly simple, leafy. Leaves keeled. Flowers ephemeral, in umbelled cl.u.s.ters, axillary and terminal, produced through the summer; floral leaves nearly like the others. (Named for the elder _Tradescant_, gardener to Charles the First of England.)

[*] _Umbels terminal or sometimes lateral, sessile, subtended by 1 or 2 leaf-like bracts; leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, flowers blue._

1. T. Virginica, L. (COMMON SPIDERWORT.) Roots fleshy-fibrous, smooth or only slightly villous, more or less glaucous, often tall and slender and with linear leaves, rather rarely with 1 or 2 long lateral peduncles; bracts usually a pair.--Rich ground, N. Y. to Fla., west to Minn., Tex., and the Rocky Mts. Very variable.--Var. VILLSA, Watson. Often dwarf, more or less villous throughout as well as p.u.b.escent. Mississippi valley and Gulf States.--Var. FLEXUSA, Watson. Stout and dark green, with large linear-lanceolate p.u.b.escent leaves, the stem usually flexuous, and with several short lateral branches or sessile axillary heads. (T.

flexuosa, _Raf._)--Ohio to Ky. and Ga. T. pilosa, _Lehm._, is an intermediate form.

[*][*] _Umbel pedunculate, subtended by small subscarious bracts; flowers small, rose-color._

2. T. rsea, Vent. Small, slender (6--10' high), smooth, erect from a running rootstock; leaves very narrowly linear, gra.s.s-like.--Sandy woods, Md. to Fla., west to Ky. and Mo.

ORDER 121. JUNCaCEae. (RUSH FAMILY.)

_Gra.s.s-like or rush-like herbs, with small flowers, a regular and hypogynous persistent perianth of 6 similar glumaceous sepals, 6 or rarely 3 stamens with 2-celled anthers, a single short style, 3 filiform hairy stigmas, and an ovary either 3-celled or 1-celled with 3 parietal placentae, forming a loculicidal 3-valved capsule._ Seeds anatropous, with a minute embryo enclosed at the base of the fleshy alb.u.men.--Flowers liliaceous in structure, but sedge-like in aspect and texture.

1. Juncus. Capsule 3-celled (or imperfectly so), many-seeded. Plants never hairy, in moist ground or water.

2. Luzula. Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded. Plant, often hairy, in dry ground.