54 2 



IRIDACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



oblong. Style Very slender, enlarged above, the 3 slender undivided branches alternate with 

 the anthers. Capsule fig-shaped, obovoid, thin-walled, loculicidally 3-valved, the valves recurv- 

 ing, finally falling away, exposing the mass of black fleshy seeds, borne on a central axis. 



A monotypic genus of eastern Asia, based on Ixia chinensis L. 



i. Gemmingia chinensis (L.; Kuntze. Blackberry Lily. Fig. 1342. 



Ixia chinensis L. Sp. PL 36. 1753. 



Belamcanda chinensis DC. in Red. Lil. 3: pi. 121. 

 1807. 



Pardanthus chinensis Ker, in Konig & Sims, Ann. 

 Bot. i : 246. 1805. 



G. chinensis Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PL 701. 1891. 



Stem rather stout, 1^-4 tall, leafy. Leaves 

 pale green, nearly erect, equ.itant, folded, 8'-io' 

 long, 8"-i2" wide, the two sides united above the 

 middle; bracts lanceolate, much shorter than the 

 leaves, the upper ones scarious; flowers several 

 or numerous, \\'-2.' broad; perianth-segments 

 obtuse at the apex, narrowed at the base, per- 

 sistent and coiled together on the ovary after 

 flowering, mottled with crimson and purple on 

 the upper side; capsule about i' high and rather 

 more than \ r in diameter, truncate or rounded at 

 the summit; mass of globose seeds erect, re- 

 sembling a blackberry, whence the common name. 



On hills and along roadsides, Connecticut to Geor- 

 gia, Indiana and Kansas. Naturalized from Asia. 

 Leopard-flower. Dwarf tiger-lily. June-July. , Fruit 

 ripe July-Sept. 



4. SISYRINCHIUM L. Sp. PI. 954. 1753. 



Perennial tufted slender herbs, with short rootstocks, simple or branched 2-edged or 

 2-winged stems, linear grass-like leaves, and rather small mostly blue terminal flowers um- 

 bellate from a pair of erect green bracts. Perianth-tube short or none, the 6 spreading seg- 

 ments oblong or obovate, equal, mostly aristulate. Filaments united to above the middle 

 in our species. Ovary 3-celled, each cavity several-ovuled. Style-branches filiform, undi- 

 vided, alternate with the anthers. Capsule globose, oval or obovoid, loculicidally 3-valved. 

 Seeds subglobose or ovoid, smooth or pitted, dry. 



About 150 species, all American. Besides the following, many others occur in the southern 

 and western states, some in Mexico and a few in the West Indies. Type species: Sisyrinchinni 

 Bermiidiana L., which has larger flowers and fruit than any of ours, and is found only in Bermuda. 



Filaments free above ; anthers about 2" long ; spathes 2, sessile. 

 Filaments united to the top ; anthers about i" long. 

 Spathes 2 together, sessile ; stem simple. 

 Spathes solitary at the end of the stem or branches. 



Stems simple (occasionally branched in S. angustifolium). 

 Capsules 2."^" high ; pedicels ascending. 

 Capsules less than 2" high ; leaves very narrow. 



Margins of the outer bract united-clasping below. 

 Margins of the outer bract separate to the base. 

 Stems branched above, the several spathes long-stalked. 

 Basal leaf-sheaths persistent as tufts of fibers. 

 Basal leaf-sheaths not persistent. 



Stems broadly winged ; pedicels spreading. 

 Stems narrowly winged. 

 Peduncles strictly erect. 

 Peduncles diverging or ascending. 



1. S. has tile. 



2. S. albidinn. 



3. 5". angustifolium. 



4. 6". mucronatum. 



5. S, campestrc. 



6. S. arenicola. 



7. 5". graminoides. 



8. -S". strictum. 



9. 5". atlanticum. 



