342 LILY FAMILY. 



T. erythrocarpum, PAINTED T. Low woods or bogs N. : leaves ovate, 

 taper-pointed ; petals lance-ovate, pointed, wavy, white with pink stripes at the 

 base ; berry bright red. 



2. MEDEOLA, INDIAN CUCUMBER-ROOT (from the taste of the 

 tuberous white and horizontal rootstock; the Latin name from Medea, the 

 sorceress). Fl. early summer. 



M. Virginica, the only species : in woods : simple stem l-3 high, cot- 

 tony when young, bearing near the middle a whorl of 5-9 obovate-lanceolate 

 thin and veiny but also parallel-ribbed leaves, and another of 3 (rarely 4 or 5) 

 much smaller ovate ones at the top, around an umbel of a few small recurved- 

 stalked flowers. 



3. COLCHICUM. (Named from the country, Colchis.) Flowers in au- 

 tumn, sends up the lanceolate root-leaves the next spring. Sparingly cult, 

 from Eu. for ornament. 



C. autumnale, COMMON C., mostly with rose-purple or lilac flowers. 

 C. variegatum, perhaps a variety, has shorter and wavy leaves, and peri- 

 anth variegated with small purple squares, as if tessellated. 



4. CHAM^ILIRIUM, DEVIL'S BIT. (Name in Greek means Ground 

 Lily, of no obvious fitness.) Fl. summer. 



C. luteum, also called BLAZING-STAR : low grounds, commoner W. & S. : 

 rootstock short and abrupt, sending up a stem l-3 high, bearing flat lance- 

 olate leaves at base, some shorter ones up the stem, and a wand-like spike or 

 raceme of small bractless flowers, the sterile ones from the stamens appearing 

 yellow. 



5. HELONIAS. (Name probably from the Greek for a swamp, in which 

 the species grows.) Fl. spring. 



H. bullata. Rare and local plant, from New Jersey to E. Virginia, but 

 sometimes cult. : very smooth, the tuberous stock producing a tuft of oblong or 

 lance-spatulate evergreen leaves, from the centre of which rises in spring a leaf- 

 less scape l-2 high, bearing the rather handsome flowers. 



6. XERpPHYLLUM. (Name means, in Greek, arid-leaved, the narrow 

 leaves being dry and rigid.) Fl. early summer. 



X. asphodelioides. Pine barrens, from New Jersey S. : a striking plant, 

 with the aspect of an Asphodel; simple stout stem rising 2 -4 high from a 

 thick or bulb-like base, densely beset at base with very long needle-shaped rigid 

 recurving leaves, above with shorter ones, which at length are reduced to bristle- 

 like bracts ; the crowded white flowers showy. 



7. AMIANTHIUM, FLY-POISON. (Name, from the Greek, alludes 

 to the flowers destitute of the spots or glands of Melanthium and Zygade- 

 nus.) Flowers summer, turning greenish or purplish with age. 



A. HlUSC8et6xicum, BROAD-LEAVED F. Open woods from New Jersey 

 S. : with a rather large bulb at the base of the stem, bearing many broadly linear 

 ('-!' wide) blunt leaves; raceme dense; flowers rather large; seeds few, red 

 and fleshy. 



A. angustifolium. Pine barrens S. : stem hardly bulbous at base, 2' 

 high ; leaves narrow, acute, pale ; seeds linear, not fleshy. 



8. STENANTHIUM. (Name from Greek means narrow flower.} Fl. 

 summer. 



S. angustifdlium. Low meadows and prairies, from Penn. S. & W. : 

 2 -6 high, leafy, the leaves long and narrow ; flowers only 4' long, in a pro- 

 longed terminal and many shorter lateral racemes, making an ample light 

 panicle. 



