MELANTHACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



i. Xerophyllum asphodeloides (L.) Nutt. 

 Turkey-beard. Fig. 1224. 



Helonias asphodeloides L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 485. 1762. 

 X. setifolium Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 211. 1803. 

 Xerophyllum asphodeloides Nutt. Gen. i : 235. 1818. 



Stem stout, becoming stiff, 2^-5 tall, densely 

 leafy below and at the base, sparsely leafy above. 

 Leaves very narrowly linear, slightly dilated at the 

 base, the lower 6'-i8' long, i" wide or less, except 

 at the broader base, the upper successively shorter 

 and narrower ; flowering raceme 3' -6' long, 2'-$' in 

 diameter, its summit conic; flowering pedicels spread- 

 ing, filiform, 9"-i" long, in fruit erect; perianth- 

 segments ovate-oblong, obtuse, about 3' long; styles 

 rather longer than the ovary ; capsule ellipsoid, 2" 

 long, \"-\\" in diameter; seeds mostly 2 in each cell. 



In dry pine barrens, southern New Jersey to eastern 

 Tennessee and Florida. May-July. Ascends to 5000 

 ft. in North Carolina. 



5. HELONIAS L. Sp. PL 342. 1753. 



A perennial glabrous bog herb, with a stout rootstock, thick fibrous roots, basal ob- 

 lanceolate persistent leaves and rather large perfect purple flowers, racemed at the summit 

 of an erect hollow bracted scape. Perianth-segments spreading, spatulate, persistent. 

 Stamens 6, hypogynous, longer than the perianth-segments; filaments filiform; anthers ovate. 

 Ovary ovoid, 3-grooved, 3-celled, slightly 3-lobed, many-ovuled; styles 3, stigmatic along 

 the inner side, deciduous. Capsule obovoid, deeply 3-lobed, the lobes divergent, ventrally 

 dehiscent above. Seeds numerous, linear, white-appendaged at each end. [Name from the 

 Greek, in allusion to its growth in swamps.] 



A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 



i. Helonias bullata L. Swamp Pink. 

 Fig. 1225. 



Helonias bullata L. Sp. PI. 342. 1753. 



Leaves several or numerous, dark green, thin, 

 clustered at the base of the scape, 6'-i5' long, 

 -2' wide, pointed or blunt, finely parallel-nerved. 

 Scape stout, bracted below, the bracts lanceolate, 

 acute or acuminate, membranous ; raceme dense, 

 i '-3' long in flower, becoming 4'-?' long in fruit; 

 perianth-segments about 3" long, equalling or 

 rather longer than the stout pedicels; capsules 

 about 3" long, the valves papery; seeds ii"-2" 

 long. 



In bogs northern New Jersey, southern New York 

 and eastern Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Local. 

 The scane sometimes bears a few leaves at its base. 

 April-May. Stud-flower. Not definitely known to 

 grow wild in Pennsylvania at the present time. 



6. CHAMAELIRIUM Willd. Mag. Nat. Fr. Berl. 2 : 18. 1808. 



An erect glabrous slightly fleshy herb, with a bitter tuberous rootstock. Basal leaves 

 spatulate, those of the stem lanceolate. Flowers small, white, dioecious, in a long narrow 

 bractless spike-like raceme. Perianth of 6 linear-spatulate i-nerved segments. Staminate 

 flowers with 6 stamens, the filaments filiform, the anthers subglobose, 2-celled; pistillate 

 flowers with a 3-celled oblong ovary, 3 short styles, stigmatic along the inner side, and usu- 

 ally with 6 staminodia. Capsules erect, slightly 3-lobed, loculicidally 3-valved. Seeds 6-12 

 in each cavity, broadly winged at both ends, narrowly winged on the sides. [Greek, signi- 

 fying a low lily.] 



A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 



