OK CHID A CEA E. 2 89 



Family i. BURMANNIACEAE Blume. 

 Burmanniii 1' a w ily. 



Low annual herbs, with filiform stems and fibrous roots. Leaves basal 

 or reduced to cauline scales or bracts. Flowers regular, perfect, the peri- 

 anth with 6 small thick lobes, its tube adnate to the ovary. Stamens 3 

 or 6, included, inserted on the tube of the perianth ; anthers 2-celled, 

 the sacs transversely dehiscent. Style slender ; stigmas 3, dilated ; 

 ovary inferior, with 3 central or parietal placentae. Ovules numerous. 

 Capsule many-seeded. Seeds minute, oblong; endosperm none. Ten 

 genera and about 60 species, widely distributed in tropical regions. The 

 family is represented in N. Am. by the following genus and Apteria of 

 the Gulf States. 



i. BURMANNIA L. 



Erect herbs, with simple stems and small alternate scale-like or bract-like 

 leaves. Tube of the perianth strongly 3 -angled or 3 -winged, the 3 outer lobes 

 longer than the inner. Stamens 3, opposite the inner perianth-lobes. Filaments 

 very short; connective of the anthers prolonged beyond the sacs into a 2-cleft crest. 

 Ovary 3-celled, with 3 thick 2-lobed central placentae; stigmas globose or 2-lobed. 

 Capsule crowned by the persistent perianth, opening by irregular lateral ruptures. 

 [In honor of Johann Burmann, Dutch botanist of the eighteenth century.] About 

 20 species, natives of warm regions. Besides the following another occurs in the 

 southeastern States. 



i. Burmannia biflora L. NORTHERN BURMANNIA. (I. F. f. 1087.) Stems 

 very slender, 5-15 cm. high, simple or forked above. Flowers i or several, 

 terminal; angles of the perianth-tube conspicuously winged, the outer lobes ovate, 

 acute, the inner linear and incurved ; seeds very numerous, oblong-linear, spar- 

 ingly striate. In swamps and bogs, Va. to Fla. and La. Sept. -Nov. 



Family 2. ORCHIDACEAE Lindl.* 

 Orchid Family. 



Perennial herbs, with corms, bulbs or tuberous roots, sheathing entire 

 leaves, sometimes reduced to scales, the flowers perfect, irregular, bracted, 

 solitary, spiked or racemed. Perianth superior, of 6 segments, the 3 

 outer (sepals) similar or nearly so, 2 of the inner ones (petals) lateral, 

 alike; the third inner one (lip) dissimilar, often markedly so, usually 

 larger, often spurred, sometimes inferior by torsion of the ovary or ped- 

 icel. Stamens variously united with the style into an unsymmetrical 

 column ; anther I or in Cypripedium 2, 2-celled; pollen in 2-8 pear-shaped, 

 usually stalked masses (pollinia), united by elastic threads, the masses 

 waxy or powdery, attached at the base to a viscid disk (gland). Style 

 often terminating in a beak (rostellum) at the base of the anther or be- 

 tween its sacs. Stigma a viscid surface, facing the lip beneath the rostel- 

 lum, or in a cavity between the anther-sacs (clinandrium). Ovary inferior, 

 usually long and twisted, 3-angled, i-celled; ovules numerous, anatro- 

 pous, on 3 parietal placentae. Capsule 3-valved. Seeds very numerous, 

 minute, mostly spindle shaped, the loose coat hyaline, reticulated ; endo- 

 sperm none ; embryo fleshy. About 410 genera and 5000 species, of wide 

 distribution, most abundant in the tropics, many of those of warm regions 

 epiphytes. 



Anthers 2 ; lip a large inflated sac. i. Cypripedium. 



Anther solitary. 



Pollinia with a caudicle, which is attached at the base to a viscid disk or gland. 

 Glands enclosed in a pouch. 



Sepals free ; lip 3-lobed. 2. Orchis. 



Sepals united above into a hood ; lip entire. 3. Galeorchis. 



* Revised by Dr. P. A. RYDBERG. 



