534 



AMARYLLIDACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



the ovary. Capsule ovoid, subglobose or oblong, 3-lobed, 3-celled, thick-walled, many-seeded. 

 Seeds compressed. [Named for Manfred, an ancient Italian writer.] 



About 25 species, all American. Besides the following, some 3 others occur in the southern 



states. Type species : Agave virginica L. 



i. Manfreda virginica (L.) Salisb. False 

 Aloe. Fig. 1324. 



Agave virginica L. Sp. PL 323. 1753. 

 M. virginica Salisb.; Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: 

 19. 1903- 



Glabrous throughout, rootstock a short crown 

 with numerous fibrous roots. Scape 2-6 tall, 

 rather slender, sometimes nearly i' in diameter at 

 the base, ^its bracts distant, long-acuminate, the 

 lower 3'-# long; leaves narrowly oblong, 2-2 

 long, J'-2i' wide, acuminate, their margins entire 

 or denticulate; spike i-2 long, loose; flowers 

 greenish yellow, odorous, solitary in the axils of 

 short bracts, sessile or the lowest distinctly pedi- 

 celled; perianth nearly tubular, slightly expanded 

 above, 8"-i2" long, the tube about twice as long as 

 the erect lobes; filaments at length about as long as 

 the perianth ; capsule 5 "-8" in diameter, slightly 

 longer than thick, abruptly contracted into a short 

 stalk. 



In dry soil, Maryland to Indiana and Missouri, south 

 to Florida and Texas. Rattlesnake's-master. 



6. HYPOXIS L. Syst. Ed. 10, 2 : 986. 1759. 



Low, mostly villous herbs with a conn or short rootstock, grass-like leaves and slender 

 few-flowered scapes, the flowers rather small. Perianth 6-parted, its segments equal or 

 nearly so, separate to the summit of the ovary, spreading, withering-persistent, the 3 outer 

 ones greenish on the lower side in our species. Stamens inserted on the bases of the peri- 

 anth-segments ; filaments short ; anthers erect, sagittate or entire. Ovary 3-celled ; style 

 short; stigmas 3, erect; ovules numerous, in 2 rows in each cavity. Capsule subglobose or 

 oblong, thin-walled, not dehiscent by valves. Seeds globular, black, laterally short-beaked 

 by their stalks. [Greek, originally given to some plant with sour leaves.] 



About 50 species, widely distributed. Besides the following, 3 others occur in the southern 

 states. Type species : Hypo.vis erectnm L. 



i. Hypoxis hirsuta (L.) Coville. Yellow Star- 

 grass. Fig. 1325. 



Ornithogahtm Iiirsutiiin L. Sp. PL 306. 1/53. 

 Hypoxis crcctum L. Syst. Ed. 10, 2: 986. 1759. 

 Hypo.vis hirsuta Coviile, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 118. 1894. 



Corm ovoid, oblong or globose, :}'-?' in diameter, with 

 numerous fibrous roots. Leaves basal, narrowly linear, 

 \"-2\" wide, more or less villous, mostly longer than 

 the scapes ; scapes slender, erect, villous above, usually 

 glabrous below, 2'-6' high; flowers 1-6, umbellate; 

 bracts subulate, shorter than the pedicels; perianth- 

 segments narrowly oblong, spreading, mostly obtuse, 

 bright yellow within, greenish and villous without, 3"-s" 

 long; stamens somewhat unequal; style rather shorter 

 than the stamens, 3-angled, the stigmas decurrent on the 

 angles; capsule about 12" in diameter; seeds angled, 

 black. 



In dry soil, Maine to Ontario, Assiniboia, Kansas, Florida 

 and Texas. Ascends to 3000 ft. in Virginia. Star-of-Beth- 

 lehem. May-Oct. 



7. LOPHIOLA Tver, Bot. Mag. />/. 1596. 1814. 



An erect perennial herb with slender rootstocks, fibrous roots, erect sparingly leafy stems, 

 the leaves narrowly linear and mostly basal, and numerous small yellowish flowers in a ter- 

 minal woolly cymose panicle. Perianth campanulate, persistent, of 6 nearly equal woolly 

 erect-spreading segments, slightly united at the base, and adnate to the lower part of the 

 ovary. Stamens inserted on the bases of the perianth-segments; filaments filiform, short; 

 anthers basifixed. Ovary 3-celled; style subulate, at length 3-cleft; ovules numerous, in 2 

 rows in each cavity. Capsule ovoid, tipped with the style, finally loculicidally 3-valved at the 



