GENUS 2. 



BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY. 



2. Triantha racemosa (Walt.) Small. 

 Viscid Tofieldia. Fig. 1222. 



Melanthium racemosiim Walt. Fl. Car. 126. 1788. 

 Narthecium pubens Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 209. 1803. 

 Tofieldia racemosa B.S.P. Prel. Cat. N. Y. 55. 1888. 

 Triantha racemosa Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 249. 1903. 



Similar to the preceding species but rather 

 stouter and taller, stem i-3 high, the glutinous 

 pubescence rougher. Leaves very narrowly 

 linear, 6'-i8' long, i'~3" wide; raceme i'~4 

 long in flower, often loose, somewhat longer 

 in fruit, the uppermost flowers first expanding ; 

 pedicels mostly clustered in 3's, ascending, 2 "-3" 

 long in fruit ; involucral bractlets about i" long, 

 united to above the middle, borne just beneath 

 the flower ; perianth-segments narrowly obovate, 

 obtuse, rigid; capsule ovoid, ii" long, little longer 

 than the calyx, its beaks i" long ; seeds short- 

 tailed at each end. 



In swamps, southern New Jersey to Florida and 

 Alabama. This and the preceding species are also 

 known as False asphodel. June-Sept. 



3. ABAMA Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 47, 511. 1763. 



[NARTHECIUM Juss. Gen. 47. 1789.] 



Perennial herbs, with creeping or horizontal rootstocks, fibrous roots, erect simple 

 stems and linear grass-like basal leaves, those of the stem short and distant. Flowers small, 

 greenish-yellow, perfect, borne in a terminal raceme. Pedicels bracted at base and usually 

 bearing a small bractlet. Perianth-segments persistent, linear or linear-lanceolate, obscurely 

 3~5-nerved, glandless. Stamens 6; filaments subulate, woolly; anthers linear-oblong, erect, 

 introrse. Ovary sessile; style very short or none; stigma slightly 3-lobed. Capsule oblong, 

 loculicidally dehiscent, many-seeded, the linear seeds tailed at each end. [Greek, signify- 

 ing without step, the plants reputed to cause lameness in cattle.] 



Four known species, natives of the northern hemisphere. Besides the following, another 

 occurs in northwestern America. Type species : Anthcricum ossifragum L. 



i. Abama americana (Ker) Morong. Amer- 

 ican Bog-asphodel. Fig. 1223. 



Narthecium aincricannm Ker, Bot. Mag. pi. 1505. 1812. 

 Narthecium ossifragmn var. ainericaniun A. Gray, Man. Ed. 



5, 536. 1867. 

 Abama americana Morong, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 109. 1894. 



Glabrous, stems wiry, stiff, erect, io'-i8' tall. Basal 

 leaves 3'-8' long, i" wide or less, finely 7-9-nerved; 

 lower stem leaves i'-2' long, the upper much smaller ; 

 raceme i'-2' long, dense ; perianth-segments narrowly 

 linear, 2"-3" long, slightly exceeding the stamens ; 

 filaments white-woolly ; pedicels ascending, 3"-4" long 

 in fruit; capsule about 5" long, i" in diameter at the 

 middle, erect, nearly twice as long as the perianth- 

 segments, tapering to a subulate beak; seeds, including 

 the appendages, 3" -4" long. 



In pine barren swamps, southern New Jersey and Dela- 

 ware. June-Sept. Yellow- or Moor-grass. Rosa-solis. 



XEROPHYLLUM Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 

 i : 210. 1803. 



Tall perennial herbs, with thick short woody rootstocks, simple erect leafy stems, the 

 leaves narrowly linear, rough-margined, the upper ones shorter than the lower. Flowers 

 very numerous, medium-sized, white, in a large dense terminal raceme, the lower ones first 

 expanding. Perianth withering-persistent, its segments oblong or ovate, s-7-nerved, spread- 

 ing, glandless. Stamens 6, rather shorter than the perianth-segments; filaments subulate, 

 glabrous; anthers oblong. Ovary sessile, 3-grooved ; styles 3, filiform, reflexed or recurved, 

 stigmatic along the inner side; ovules only 2-4 in each cell. Capsule ovoid, 3-grooved, loc- 

 ulicidally and sometimes also septicidally dehiscent. Seeds 5, oblong, not at all appendaged, 

 or only minutely so. [Greek, signifying a dry leaf.] 



Three species, the following, which is the type of the genus, the others of western America. 



