GENUS 4. 



LILY FAMILY. 



4. NOTHOSCORDUM Kunth, Enum. 4: 457. 1843. 



Scapose herbs, similar to the onions, but without alliaceous odor, with membranous- 

 coated bulbs, narrowly linear basal leaves and small yellow or yellowish-green flowers in an 

 erect terminal simple 2-bracted umbel. Perianth 6-parted to the base, withering-persistent, 

 its segments i-nerved. Stamens 6, inserted on the bases of the perianth-segments ; fila- 

 ments filiform or subulate; anther-sacs introrsely dehiscent. Ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules 

 several in each cavity; style filiform, jointed near the base, but commonly persistent; stigma 

 small, capitate. Capsule 3-lobed, loculicidal. Seeds angled or flattish, black. [Greek, 

 signifying false garlic.] 



About 10 species, the following in the United States, West Indies and Mexico, 8 or 9 in tropical 

 and South America, i Chinese. Type species : Nothoscordum pulchellum Kunth. 



i. Nothoscordum bivalve (L.) Britton. 

 Yellow False Garlic. Fig. 1253. 



Ornithogalum bivalve L. Sp. PI. 306. 1753. 

 Allium ornithogaloides Walt. Fl. Car. 121. 1788. 

 Allium striatum Jacq. Coll. Suppl. 51. 1796. 

 Nothoscordum striatum Kunth, Enum. 4: 459. 1843. 



Bulb globose, less than i' in diameter, its coats 

 membranous. Leaves \"-2\" wide, flat, blunt or 

 acutish, shorter than the scape or equalling it ; 

 bracts of the umbel lanceolate, acuminate, mem- 

 branous, persistent ; umbel 6-i2-flowered ; pedicels 

 filiform, usually unequal, becoming rather rigid 

 and i '-2' long in fruit; flowers s"-6" long; peri- 

 anth-segments thin, oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 longer than the stamens ; capsule obovoid or 

 somewhat depressed, obtusely 3-lobed, 2"-^" high, 

 the style as long or slightly longer. 



In sandy soil, Virginia to Ohio, Tennessee, Ne- 

 braska, Florida, Texas and Mexico. Ascends to 

 1500 ft. in Georgia. Also in Bermuda and in Ja- 

 maica. March-July. 



5. ANDROSTEPHIUM Torn Bot. Mex. Bound. Surv. 218. 1859. 



Scapose herbs from a small membranous-coated corm. Leaves basal, narrowly linear. 

 Flowers rather large, blue, in a terminal erect several-bracted umbel. Perianth funnelform, 

 withering-persistent, the tube about as long as the 6 oblong lobes. Stamens 6, inserted on 

 the throat of the perianth; filaments dilated, united to the middle or above into an erect 

 crown-like tube with toothed lobes alternating with the linear-oblong anthers. Ovary ses- 

 sile, 3-celled ; ovules several in each cavity ; style filiform ; stigmas 3-grooved. Capsule mem- 

 branous, 3-angled, loculicidal. Seeds few, large, oval, black. [Greek, referring to the crown.] 



Two species, natives of the southwestern United States ; the following is the type of the genus. 



i. Androstephium coeruleum (Scheele) Greene. 

 Androstephium. Fig. 1254. 



Milla coerulea Scheele, Linnaea 25: 260. 1852. 

 Androstephium violaceum Torr. Bot. Mex. Bound. Surv. 



219. 1859. 

 Androstephium coeruleum Greene, Pittonia 2: 57. 1890. 



Corm subglobose, less than i' in diameter. Scape 

 2'-8' tall, simple; leaves i"-2" wide, half terete, 

 equalling the scape, or sometimes longer, bracts of the 

 umbel 2-4, scarious, lanceolate, acuminate, persistent, 

 shorter than the pedicels ; umbel 2-/-flowered ; pedi- 

 cels rather stout, J'-ii' long; perianth io"-i4" long, 

 the lobes about as long as the tube ; filament-tube about 

 5" long, its lobes exceeding the anthers ; style about as 

 long as the filament-tube ; capsule 4"-6" high ; seeds 

 nearly 3" long, very thin, narrowly winged. 



Prairies, Kansas to Texas. March-April. 



