244 BROMELIACEAE 



perianth white or pale blue ; tube straight or slightly curved, 7-8 mm. long ; lobes shorter 



than the tube : anthers various, the 2 upper oval, the lower linear or nearly so and on 



a larger filament. 



In shallow water or muddy places, Connecticut to Kansas, Louisiana, Texas and South America. 

 Spring to fall. Mud Plantain. 



2. PONTEDERIA L. 



Herbs, with horizontal rootstocks. Stems simple, nearly naked. Leaves few : blades 

 leathery, many-nerved. Spike subtended by a bract-like spathe, many-flowered. Flowers 

 ephemeral. Perianth corolla-like, blue or white, 2-lipped ; upper lip with 3 rather broad 

 lobes ; lower lip with 3 narrow lobes. Stamens 6, very unequally adnate to the perianth- 

 tube : filaments filiform : anthers introrse, nearly versatile. Ovary 3-celled, 2 of the 

 cavities empty : style filiform, sometimes elongated. Utricle 1 -celled, surrounded by the 

 accrescent base of the perianth. Seed solitary. 



1. Pontederia cordata L. Foliage mostly glabrous. Stems 3-12 dm. tall, simple, 



or branching at the base : leaves erect ; petioles elongated, sheathing at the base, those of 



the stem mucli shorter than those of the basal leaves ; blades ovate to lanceolate, 10-20 cm. 



long, obtuse, entire, cordate or somewhat sagittate at the base : spike minutely glandular : 



j)erianth bright blue or white, 10-15 mm. long ; tube curved ; lobes oblong to linear, 



shorter than the tube, the middle one with two yellow spots near the ba.se within : stamens 



and style colored like the perianth : seeds oblong-ovoid, 3 mm. long. 



On borders of streams, ponds and in swamps. Nova Scotia to Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Spring 

 to fall. Pickerel-weed. Wampee. 



3. PIAROPUS Raf. 



Herbs, with floating rootstocks copiously root-bearing at the nodes. Leaves clustered 

 at the nodes, more or less emerged : j^etioles slender or inflated : blades commonly widely 

 dilated. Flowers sessile, solitary, or in terminal spikes or racemes on scaly peduncles. 

 Perianth showy : members 6, in 2 series, united into a tube below, the limb oblique. Stamens 

 6, irregularly adnate to the perianth, 3 included, 3 exserted : filaments sometimes flattened 

 at the base. Ovary 3-celled : stigma terminal. Ovules numerous. Capsule included in 

 the withering-persistent perianth, loculicidal. Seeds many-ribbed. \_Eichornia Kunth. ] 



1. Piaropus crassipes (Mart.) Britton. Floating or rooting in the mud. Foliage 

 glabrous below : leaves erect, or ascending ; petioles elongated, wholly or partly inflated or 

 sometimes gradually tapering from the base ; blades 3-8 cm. in diameter, ovate to orbicu- 

 lar or nearly reniform, leathery : scapes 1-4 dm. tall, simple : spadix glandular-pubescent : 

 perianth showy, bluish purple ; tube curved, about 1.5-2 cm. long; lobes suborbicular or 

 obovate, longer than the tube, tlie upper one with a yellow center. 



In slow streams and lakes, Florida, introduced and often troublesome, and tropical America. 

 Water Hyacinth. Wampee. 



Family 6. BROMELIACEAE J. St. Hil. Pine-apple Family. 



Epiphytic or rarely terrestrial rigid or pendent caulescent herbs, with scurfy 

 foliage, or sometimes glabrous. Leaves various, sometimes miainly basal, filiform 

 or with dilated blades, elongated, entire, or coarsely spiny-toothed. Flowers 

 perfect, regular, solitary or usually in spikes, commonly subtended by conspic- 

 uous bracts. Perianth white or green, or of deeper colors. Sepals 3, distinct or 

 partially united. Petals 3, often narrowed into claws, distinct or partially united. 

 Androecium of 3-6 stamens. Anthers introrse. Gynoecium a superior or inferior 

 3-celled pistil. Styles united. Stigmas 3 or 3-lobed. Ovules numerous in each 

 cavity, anatropous. Fruit a berry or a 3-valved capsule. Seeds stalked. Embryo 

 minute at the base of the mealy endosperm. 



Style filiform : stalk of the seed erect: seed erect, pointed. 



Stems stiing-like, pendent : flowers solitary ; inflorescence axillary : stamens 3-fi. 1. Dendropogon. 



Stems rigid, not pendent : flowers in spikes : inflorescence terminal: stamens 6. 2. Tillandsia. 

 Style wanting or nearly so : stalk of seed incurved : seed ascending, tipped by a 



blunt coma. 3. Catopsis. 



1. DENDROPOGON Paf. 



Delicate, cliiefly epiphytes, with silvery-scurfy foliage. Stems string-like, branching, 

 pendent, elongated. Leaves scattered, without distinction of blade and petiole, linear- 



