GENUS 12. 



BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY. 



493 



i. Oceanorus leimanthoides (A. Gray) 



Small. Pine-barren Oceanorus. 



Fig. 1234. 



Amianthium leimanthoides A. Gray, Ann. Lye. 



N. Y. 4: 125. 1837. 

 Zygadenus leimanthoides S. Wats. Proc. Am. 



Acad. 14 : 280. 1879. 

 Oceanorus leimanthoides Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 252. 



1903. 



Stem slender, i-4 high, its base sheathed 

 by short leaves which soon become fibrous. 

 Leaves 2"-^' wide, green on both sides, often 

 i long, blunt, or the upper acuminate and 

 much shorter; panicle 4'-i2' long, its branches 

 densely many-flowered, spreading or ascend- 

 ing; bractlets much shorter than the slender 

 pedicels ; lower flowers perfect, white or green- 

 ish, about 4" broad ; perianth-segments oblong, 

 obtuse, sessile, not clawed, adnate to the very 

 base of the ovary; capsule ovoid, 4" high, 

 much longer than the perianth. 



In swamps or wet soil, Long Island to Georgia, 

 North Carolina and Tennessee. July-Aug. 



13. MELANTHIUM L. Sp. PI. 339. 1753. 



Tall leafy herbs, perennial by thick rootstocks, the stem, at least its upper part, and the 

 inflorescence, pubescent. Leaves narrow, oblanceolate or linear, sheathing or the upper sheath- 

 less. Flowers greenish, white or cream-colored, darker in withering, monoecious or poly- 

 gamous, slender pedicelled in a large terminal panicle. Perianth of 6 spreading separate 

 persistent clawed 2-glandular segments, mostly free from the ovary. Stamens shorter than 

 the segments and adnate to them; anthers cordate or reniform, their sacs confluent. Ovary 

 ovoid; styles 3, subulate, spreading. Capsule 3-lobed, 3-celled, the cavities several-seeded, 

 tipped by the style. Seeds very flat and broadly winged, several in each cavity. [Greek, 

 signifying black flower.] 



The genus comprises the following species, and one in the southern states, the first being the type. 



Blade of the perianth-segments oblong, entire ; leaves linear. 



Blade of the perianth-segments nearly orbicular, undulate ; leaves oblanceolate. 



1. M. virginicum. 



2. M. latifolinm. 



i. Melanthium virginicum L. 

 flower. Fig. 1235. 



Bunch- 



Melanthium virginicum L. Sp. PI. 339. 1753. 



Stems rather stout, 2j-5 high. Leaves linear, 

 acuminate, often i long, 4"-i2" wide, the lower 

 sheathing, the upper smaller, sessile, the upper- 

 most very small ; panicle 6'-i8' long, usually much 

 longer than the ovate-oblong bracts ; flowers 6"- 

 10" broad, greenish yellow, turning brown; 

 perianth-segments obtuse, the blade oblong, flat, 

 entire, sometimes obcordate, at least twice as long 

 as the claw, bearing 2 dark glands at its base ; cap- 

 sule s"~7" long, the persistent styles erect, i"-ij" 

 long; seeds 8-10 in each cavity, 2"~3" long. 



in meadows, wet woods and marshes, Rhode Island 

 to New York and Minnesota, south to Florida and 

 Texas. Black or bunch-flower. Quafodil. June-Aug. 



