MELANTHIACEAE 277 
Upper stem-leaves sessile or merely claspin 
Pedicels more than twice as long as the PRubtending bracts. 1. V. parviflorum. 
Pedicels shorter than the subtending bracts or barely twice 
as long. E V. intermedium. 
Upper stem-leaves with sheathing bases. . V. viride. 
V. parvifiorum Miehx. Stem 6-15 dm 
en leaf-blades phe pu iin of oval: 
panicle-branches spreading: sepals green- 
ish € I E n: ] 
5.5 ong.— (HELLEB epica. 
Bones "Blue Ridge to circ hian Pla- 
teau, Ga. to Tenn., Va. and Va 
~Sum. 
2. V. intermedium Chapm. Stem 9-15 dm. 
tall: leaf-blades A EA dd pan- 
E pue ascendin ving up- 
ard: sepals and petals bw Qm 8— 
10 mm. fone. —Hammocks, M Fla.- —Sum. 
3. V. viride Ait. Stem 6—25 dm. tall: leaf-blades oval, or narrower on the 
upper n of the stem: panicle-branches ascending: sepa als and petals yellow- 
ish-gr tals 1 LE- 
i ER 
Ga. to Minn. and N. B.—Spr.- —An insecticide is made from the pow- 
dered dried roots. Large dtm of is are gathered in the Appa- 
lachians. 
8. STENANTHIUM Kunth. Graceful caulescent herbs. Leaves mainly 
basal: blades elongate, channeled. Flowers polygamous or monoecious, panicu- 
late, the panicle-branches glabrous. Sepals and petals white, pinkish, or green, 
glandless. Seeds angled.—Following are the only known species.—Sum.—fall. 
—FEATHERBELLS. FEATHER-FLEECES. 
Perianth white: capsule deflexed, about 8 mm. long. 1. S. gramineum. 
Perianth green: capsule erect, fully 10 mm. long. 2. S. robustum. 
1. S. gramineum (Ker.) Morong. Ste 
8-15 dm. tall, slender: blades of the 
m 
long, 
deflexed.—Dry acid cd and hill- 
sides, various provinees, to Miss., 
Ky., and Va. 
2. S. robustum S. Wats. Stem 10-20 
leaves over 10 . wide: icle plume 
like: petals of the pistillate flowers 
7-8 mm. long: capsule fully 10 mm. long, 
erect —Acid s swamps, various provinces, 
G. S. to Ark., Ohio, and Pa. 
SCHOENOCAULON A. Gray. Slender scapose herbs. Leaves basal: 
I: channeled. Scape simple. Flowers perfect, in slender spikes or 
