coMMEMNA. TRfANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 39 



lanceolate : bracts peduncled, short-cordate. M i c h. FL L 



p. 24. Vahl E7ium. II. p. 265. Pursh FL I. p. 31. 



Muhl. Cat, p. 4. Roem. ^ Schult. I. p. 528. C. 



erecta IV ill d. Spec. I. p. 250 ? C. truncata W illd, Supp. 



Eniim. hort. Berol. I. p. 5. R o e m, ^- Schult. 1. c. 528. 

 Rooc perennial, with fleshy fibres. Stem erect ? branched a little 

 below, about a foot high. Leaves lanceolate ; border of the 

 sheaths fringed with ferruginous hairs. Involucrufn (bractea) 

 cordate-falcate. Petals cordate, very entire, blue ; the lower 

 one much smaller, pedicellate. Abortive stamens (nectaries 

 jL.) 4, pedicellate, and supporting cruciform anthers; one of 

 them much smaller. Fertile stamens "H. 5^z//e subulate ; stig- 

 ma simple. Capsule subglobose, indistinctly 3-sided. Seeds 

 2 in each cell, oval. 

 Hab. Borders of a swamp 2 miles from Flushing, Long-Island. 

 Mr. P. Dudgeon. In Pennsylvania. Muhlenberg, 

 June. 



2. C. virgiynca L,: petals nearly equal; stenf\ erect, a 



little pubescent ; leaves long-lanceolate, subpetiolate ; throat. 



bearded. Will d. Spec. I. p. 25 1 . P ur s h FL h ip, 31. 



Elliott SkA. p. 49. Vahl Emm. \L p. '267. Wait. 



Car. p. 68. Roem. ^ S chul t. \. p. 530. C. longifoUa 



Mich. FL I. p. 23. C. hirtella Vahl Enum. II. p. 166. 



Ephemerum phalangioides, &c, P Ink, Aim, 135. t. 174, 



f.4. 



Root perennial Stem generally erect, 2 feet high. Leaves ob- 

 long, sometimes ovate-lanceolate, finely serrulate, scabrous on 

 the upper surface, paler and smooth on the under, sprinkled 

 with a few hairs. Sheaths furrowed, rather smooth, the margin 

 and throat ciliate, with a rufous beard. Flowers clustered at 

 the summit of the stem, sometimes axillary in the upper 

 leaves. Bracts nerved, scabrous ; when extended, reniform ; 

 enclosing 2 pedicels, one fertile, the other sterile. Calyx 

 o-leaved ; leaves membranaceous, ovate-lanceolate, the upper 

 one very small Corolla o-petalled; petals nearly round, clawedj 

 sky-blue; the inferior one smaller. JVectaries (abortive sta- 

 mens) 3, ovate, yellow, emarginate at the summit, contracted 

 and 2-cleft at the base ; with 2 lateral glands on footstalks, co- 

 loured, subulate, shorter than the filaments, inserted into the 

 upper side of the germen at its base. Filaments 3, white, 

 longer than the corolla, inserted into the lower side of the 

 germen at its base. .4nthers incumbent, furrowed, somewhat 

 sagittate, yellow. Style longer than the stamens. Elliott. 

 Hab. In Pennsylvania. Muhlenberg. July. 



Not having examined this plant in a living state, I have 

 adopted the detailed description of Elliott, though it does not 

 exactly apply to M ic h aux*s C longifolia. The principal 

 discrepancy, however, is in the breadth of the leaves, which is 

 a variable character in the genus. 



