292 American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 7 



4. Leaves green, not glaucous; sepals 8-10 cm long; capsule 

 strongly 6-angled, 2 cm thick; meadows, swamps, and 

 borders of woods in the western half of 111., from Taze- 

 well to Pulaski coimties. May- June /. brevicaulis Raf. 



1. Flowers dull reddish-brown, variegated with blue and green; 

 leaves pale green and somewhat glaucous; sepals 3-5 cm long; 

 swamps, Alexander, Pulaski, and Union counties. May. Red 

 Iris /. julva Ker 



2. Belamcanda Adans. — Blackberry-lily 



B. chinensis (L.) DC. Roadsides and banks, scattered nearly 

 throughout 111.; escaped from cult. Native of Asia. Jime-July. 



3. Sisyrinchiuni L. — Blue-eyed Grass 



1. Spathes and flowers arising directly from apex of stem; leaves 



and stems glaucous, 1-2 mm broad, the margins smooth, entire. 



2. Spathes usually 2, with a single outer leaf-like bract; perianth 



usually white, or sometimes purple ; ovary often minutely 



glandular; capsules 3-5 mm long, straw-colored; prairie soil, 



and meadows, common throughout 111. May-June 



- - - S. albidum Raf. 



2. Spathe solitary; perianth bluish-piu-ple; stem 0.5-1.5 mm wide; 



capsules 2.5-3 mm long; prairie soil, roadsides, open woods, 

 sandy banks, common throughout the western part of the 

 state from Winnebago to Macoupin counties. Apr.-June. 

 [S. mucronatum sensu auth., non Michx. ; S. montanum 



sensu auth., non Greene] ^S". campestre Bickn. 



1. Spathes and flowers peduncled from the axil of a leaf-like bract; 

 perianth bluish-piu-ple. 



3. Leaves 3-4 mm wide, dark green, not glaucous, drying darker; 



stems broadly winged, minutely serrulate, almost straight, 3-4 

 mm wide; inner bract of spathe 1.5-3 cm long; capsules 

 blackish, 4-6 mm long; moist meadows or wooded areas 

 throughout 111. May-June. \S. graniinciati Lam.; S. angusti- 



foliuni Mill.; S. graniinoides Bickn.] S. herrnudiana L. 



3. Leaves 1-3 mm wide, pale green or glaucous; stem slender, 

 narrowly winged, curved or flexuous; inner bract of spathe 

 1-1.5 cm long; capsules 3-4 mm long; sandy soil, local; 



known from Kankakee Co., R. A. Schneider 



S. atlanticinn Bickn. 



137. Dioscoreaceae Lindl. — Yam Family 



1 . Dioscorea L. — Yam 



1. Petioles glabrous or nearly so at the insertion of the blade; ma- 

 ture capsules 1.5-2.3 cm long; all the leaves alternate (or the 

 three lowest close together or indefinitely whorled) ; blades 

 glabrous or puberulent beneath; seeds (exclusive of the wing) 



