3. Schoenolirion Durand 



Three species in southern United States; one in California. 

 1. Schoenolirion croceum (Michx.) Wood. Yellow sunny-bell. Fig. 335. 



Perennial herb; scape very slender, about 3 dm. high, scaly and somewhat 

 thickened at base, from a thick rootstock and fleshy-fibrous cluster of roots; 

 leaves in a basal tuft, elongate, flat, the principal leaves 4-8 mm. wide, strongly 

 ribbed; raceme simple, to 15 cm. long and 4 cm. in diameter; bracts ovate to 

 elliptic, concave, mostly obtuse, often tinged with purple; flowers yellow and 

 mostly tinged with red: floral segments 6, elliptic-oblong, distinctly 3-nerved, 5-7 

 mm. long; capsule depressed-globose, .deeply 3-lobed; seeds subglobose, shining, 

 nearly 4 mm. long. Oxytria crocea (Michx.) Raf. 



In wet savannahs, marshy pinelands, bogs and on seepage slopes in s.e. Tex., 

 Mar.-May; from Fla. to Tex., n. to N. C. 



4. Melanthium L. 



Five species all native of North America. 

 1. Melanthium virginicuni L. Bunchflower. 



Perennial from a thick rootstock; stem to about 1.5 m. high, scurfy above; 

 leaves firm, broadly linear, acuminate-attenuate, to 3 cm. broad; panicle to 45 cm. 

 long, usually much shorter, somewhat scurfy, with ascending to spreading lateral 

 branches; fiowers creamy, changing to green or purplish, scurfy outside; floral 

 segments 6, broadly oblong to ovate, rounded to cordate or hastate at base, 

 flat, obtuse, 5-8 mm. long, 2 or 3 times the length of the slender claw, with 2 

 dark glands at base; stamens borne at or above middle of each claw; capsule erect, 

 ovoid, with furrows between the round-backed carpels, 13-18 mm. high, 3-beaked; 

 seeds whitish, narrowly obovate, flat, broadly winged, about 10 in each cell, 5-7 

 mm. long. 



Meadows, bogs, swales, savannahs, edge of woodlands and low thickets in e. 

 and s.e. Tex., May-July; from n. Fla. to Tex., n. to s. N. Y., O., Ind., 111. and la. 



5. Veratnim L. False-hellebore 



About 25 species in the North Temperate region. 



1. Veratrum californicum Durand. Skunk-cabbage. Fig. 336. 



Stout, tall, leafy perennial 1-2 m. tall, with a short thick poisonous rootstock; 

 leaves sheathing at base, 2-5 dm. long, 1-2 dm. wide, ovate or the upper ones 

 narrower, lightly pubescent, plaited, prominently nerved; panicle 2-5 dm. long, 

 tomentose; pedicels 2-6 mm. long; flowers dull white; perianth segments 8-15 mm. 

 long, 5-8 mm. wide, greenish-margined, with a greenish spot at base; stamens 6, 

 opposite perianth segments, free, short, curved, the anthers cordate, with confluent 

 pollen sacs; styles 3, persistent; capsule 2-3 cm. long, 3-celled, 3-lobed; seeds 

 numerous, wing-margined. 



Wet meadows and bogs in N. M. (Sandoval and Taos cos.) and Ariz. (Apache, 

 Cochise, Coconino, Graham and Navajo cos.), June-Sept.; Mont, to Wash., s. to 

 N. M., Ariz, and Calif. 



6. Allium L. Onion. Garlic. Leek 



Biennial or perennial herbs; scapes from a tunicated bulb, with mostly narrowly 

 linear basal leaves; herbage usually with the characteristic odor and taste of onions 

 or garlic; flowers in a terminal simple umbel, subtended by 2 to 4 membranous 

 separate or united bracts, some or all of the flowers occasionally replaced by 



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