WOOTON AND STANDLEY—FLORA OF NEW MEXICO. 125 
1. Lemna trisulca L. Sp. Pl. 970. 1753. 
Tyre Locaity: ‘Habitat in Europe sub aquis pigris puris.”’ 
Rance: Throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. 
New Mexico: Mountains west of San Antonio; Mimbres. Floating in water. 
2. Lemna minor L. Sp. Pl. 970. 1753. 
Type Locality: ‘‘Habitat in Europae aquis quietis.”’ 
Rance: Nearly cosmopolitan. 
New Mexico: Santo Domingo; Sycamore Creek; mountains northeast of Santa 
Rita; Mule Creek; Nutritas Creek. Floating in water. 
3. Lemna minima Phil. Linnaea 33: 239. 1864, name only; Hegelm. Lemn. 138. 1868, 
Tyre Locaity: Chile. 
RanGE: Southwestern United States to South America. 
New Mexico: West Fork of the Gila (Metcalfe 407). Floating in water. 
Order 12. XYRIDALES. 
KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 
Calyx and corolla free, of very different members; 
stamens free...............----------- 16. COMMELINACEAE (p. 125). 
Calyx and corolla partly united, of similar mem- 
bers; stamens partly adnatetothe perianth. 17. PONTEDERIACEAE (p. 126). 
16. COMMELINACEAE. Spiderwort Family. 
Herbs with simple or branched stems and fibrous or fleshy roots; leaves sheathing 
at the base, the uppermost often dissimilar and forming a spathe about the flowers; 
flowers blue or purple; sepals 3; persistent; petals 3; stamens 6, hypogynous; capsule 
2 or 3-celled. 
KEY TO THE GENERA. 
Perfect stamens 3 or 2; bracts spathelike; petals dissimi- 
lar; filaments naked..........-.-. sees . 1. Commetina (p. 125). 
Perfect stamens 6 or 5; bracts like the ‘foliage leaves: 
petals similar; filaments hairy........--..----.-- 2. TRADESCANTIA (p. 126). 
1. COMMELINA L. DaAyFLoweEr. 
Perennial herbs with tuberous roots in clusters, sheathing petioles, and linear, more 
or less succulent leaves; flowers blue, open for only a few hours in the morning. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES. 
Floral bracts abruptly long-acuminate, 3 to 6 cm. long, glabrous or 
puberulent; stems frequently simple, never much branched; 
petals all blue...........----- 2-22 e eee eee eee ee eee eee 1. C. dianthifolia. 
Floral bracts short, 2 cm. long or less, usually with long divergent 
* hairs on the sides; stems much branched; one petal white.... 2. C. crispa. 
1. Commelina dianthifolia Delile in Red. Liliac. 7: pl. 390. 1801. 
Commelina linearis Benth. Pl. Hartw. 27. 1839. 
Commelina linearis longispatha Torr. U. S. & Mex. Bound. Bot. 224. 1859. 
Tyrer Locauity: Described from cultivated plants. 
Rance: New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico. 
New Mexico: Common in all the higher mountains from the Las Vegas Mountains 
to the Capitan Mountains and westward across the State. Open slopes, in the Tran- 
sition Zone. 
The type of C. linearis longispatha came from the Copper Mines. 
