LILIACEAE. 69 



and indehiseent. Seeds various, winged or -wingless. Embryo in copious 

 endosperm. About 125 genera and 1300 species, widely distributed. 



Cavities of the fruit each 1-seeded. 1. Aloe. 

 Cavities of the fruit many-seeded. 



Fruit with a thin rupturing pericarp. 2. Cordyline. 



Fruit a loculicidal capsule. 3. Aletris. 



m 



1. ALOE L. Sp. PI. 319. 1753. 



Succulent plants with a short or elongated caudex, the thick tufted leaves 

 with spiny-toothed margins, the racemose flowers nodding. Perianth sub- 

 cylindric, the segments connivent or coherent, their tips somewhat spreading. 

 Stamens 6, with slender filaments and oblong anthers. Ovary sessile, 3-angled 

 and 3-celled; style filiform, tipped by the small stigma; ovules many in each 

 cavity of the ovary. Capsule leathery, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds numer- 

 ous, black. [Name ancient.] Over 75 species, mostly African. Type species: 

 Aloe perfoliata L. 



1. Aloe vera L. Sp. PI. 320. 1753. 



Aloe vulgaris Lam. Encycl. 1: 86. 1783. 



Aloe perfoliata vera L. Sp. PI. 320. 1753. 



Aloe barbadensis Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 2. 1768. 



Acaulescent, or nearly so, stoloniferous. Leaves 3-6 dm. long, narrowly 

 lanceolate, long-acuminate, turgid, very watery within, pale glaucous-green, the 

 marginal spiny teeth 1 cm. apart or less; scape stout, 6-12 dm. high, bearing 

 distant, broad, acute scales; raceme dense, 1-3 dm. long; bracts lanceolate, 

 acute, longer than the short pedicels; flowers yellow, about 2.5 em. long; 

 stamens about as long as the perianth, the style longer. 



Coastal rocks, s^nn" plains and dunes, spontaneous after cultivation. Great 

 Exuma, Cat Island. North, East and South Caicos and Salt Cay. Native of the 

 Mediterranean Region, escaped in Bermuda, the West Indies and Central America. 

 Aloes. 



2. CORDYLINE Adans. Earn. PI. 2: 54, 543. 1763. 

 [Saxsevieria Thunb. Prodr. Fl. Cap. 65. 1794.] 



Fleshy perennial herbs, the leaves tufted, basal, flat or terete, elongated, 

 containing a strong fibre, the rather large flowers in a raceme at the end of a 

 simple scape. Perianth-tube slender, its lobes narrow, spreading. Stamens 6, 

 borne near the top of the perianth-tube, the filaments filiform, the anthers 

 oblong or linear. Ovary 3-celled; ovules 1 in each cavity, erect. Fruit with a 

 thin pericarp. Seeds 1-3, subglobose, fleshy. [Greek, a club.] About 25 

 species, natives of Asia and Africa. Type species: Aloe hyaemthoides L. 



1. Cordyline guineensis (L.) Britton, Mem. Brooklyn Bot. Gard. 1: 35. 1918. 



Aletris hyaemthoides guianensis L. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 456. 1762. 



Aletris guineensis Jaeq. Hort. Vind. 1: 36. 1770. 



Sansevieria guineensis Willd. Sp. PI. 2: 159. 1799. 



Leaves linear, 1 m. long or less, nearly flat, 5-8 cm. wide, dark green and 

 mottled, narrowed at both ends. Scape about as long as the leaves; raceme 

 many-flowered; pedicels 5-8 mm. long; perianth nearly white, its lobes about 



