GENUS ii. 



LILY FAMILY. 



509 



i. Quamasia hyacinthina (Raf.) Brit- 

 ton. Wild Hyacinth. Fig. 1271. 



Scilla esculenta Ker, Bot. Mag. pi. 1754. 1813. 

 Leinotrys hyacinthina Raf. Fl. Tell. 3: 51. 1836. 

 Scilla Frascri A. Gray, Man. Ed. 2, 469. 1856. 

 Camassia Fraserl Torr. Pac. R. R. Rep. 4: 147. 



1857. 



Quamasia esculenta Coville, Proc. Biol. Soc. 

 Wash. 11:64. 1897. Not Raf. 



Bulb ovoid, I'-is' long, its outer coat usu- 

 ally nearly black. Scape slender, i-2 tall, 

 sometimes bearing I or 2 short linear scarious 

 leaves ; basal leaves narrowly linear, acumi- 

 nate, shorter than the scape, \\"-A[' wide; 

 raceme open, 3'-8' long in flower, longer in 

 fruit; flowers several or many; pedicels fili- 

 form, 6"-io" long, about as long as the 

 bracts and the perianth-segments ; bracts 

 long-acuminate ; perianth-segments narrowly 

 oblong, 3-5-nerved, blue or nearly white, 

 longer than the stamens ; capsule about 4" 

 high, 5 "-6" thick, the valves transversely 

 veined. 



In meadows and along streams, Pennsylvania 

 to Minnesota, Georgia and Texas. Ascends to 

 2100 ft. in Virginia. Eastern camass. April- 

 May. 



12. ORNITHOGALUM L. Sp. PI. 306. 1753. 



Scapose herbs, with coated bulbs, narrow basal fleshy leaves, and large white or yellow 

 flowers in a terminal bracted corymb or raceme. Perianth-segments equal or nearly so, sepa- 

 rate, white, or sometimes green without, persistent, faintly several-nerved. Stamens hypogy- 

 nous ; filaments flattened, often broad; anthers versatile, introrse. Ovary 3-celled, sessile; 

 ovules several or numerous in each cavity ; style short or columnar, 3-sided ; stigma capitate, 

 3-lobed or 3-ridged. Capsule subglobose, 3-sided or 3-lobed, loculicidal. Seeds black. 

 [Greek, signifying bird's milk, said to be in allusion to the egg-white color of the flowers 

 in some species.] 



About 75 species, natives of Europe, Asia and Africa. Type species: O. arabicnin L. 



Flowers corymbose, erect; pedicels long, slender. i. O. iinibcllatum. 



Flowers racemose, drooping; pedicels very short, stout. 2. O. nntaus. 



i. Ornithogalum umbellatum L. Star- 



of-Bethlehem. Summer Snow-flake. 



Star-flower. Fig. 1272. 



Ornithogalum umbellatum L. Sp. PI. 307. 1753. 



Tufted, bulbs ovoid, *'-!*' long, the coats 

 membranous. Scape slender, 4' -12' high ; leaves 

 narrowly linear, i"-2?" wide, dark green with a 

 light midvein, blunt, equalling or longer than the 

 scapes ; flowers corymbose, opening in sunshine ; 

 bracts membranous, linear-lanceolate, mostly 

 shorter than the pedicels ; pedicels erect or 

 ascending, the lower i'-3' long; perianth-seg- 

 ments oblong-lanceolate, acute, white above, 

 green with white margins beneath, 6"-io" long. 

 about twice as long as the stamens ; filaments 

 somewhat flattened, not toothed. 



In fields and meadows, New Hampshire to Penn- 

 sylvania and Virginia. Locally very abundant. 

 Naturalized from Europe. Nap-at-noon. Sleepy 

 Dick. Ten o'clock-. Eleven o'clock-lady. May-June. 



