Xyris. CLVITI. XYRIDACEiE. 563 



1. C. ANGUSTiFOLiA. Michx. '? (C. crccta, Willd.) Day Flower. 



St. assurgent, branching, subgeniculate ; Ivs. lanceolate, subpetiolate, 

 sheath? split to tlie base ; spathe broad-cordate, distinct and open at base, en- 

 folding 2 peduncles and several flowers ; pedicels contorted ; pel. unequal, the 

 lower one much smaller, unguiculate ; sla. 2, perfect. — Dry soils, Middle! 

 Southern and Western States ! Plant nearly smooth, 12 — 18' high, glabrous. 

 Leav^es 3 — 5' by 8 — 14", varying from lance-linear to lance-ovate. Spathe 

 veiny, 3 — 5-flowered. Petals deep blue. July, Aug. 



2. C. ViRGiNiCA. Linn. 1 (C. longifolia. Michx.) 



St. erect, branched at base, ciliate-pubescent; Ivs. lanceolate, subpetiolate, 

 sheaths entire, elongated, ciliate-pilose ; bracts deltoid-falcate, united and entire 

 at base as if peltate, about 2-flowered ; pet. nearly equal ; sta. 3, perfect. — Rocky 

 woods, thickets, Penn. {Muhl.) Harper's Feriy ! to Ga. A more slender, but 

 erect species, 1— 2f high. Leaves 3—5' by 6—12", usually narrow-lanceolate, 

 pilose-scabrous, the sheaths near 1' long. Spathe broadly funnel-shaped. Pe- 

 tals blue. July, Aug. — Neither of these plants agrees with the descriptions in 

 the books. 



2. TRADESCANTIA. 



Named in honor of John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I. 



Sepals persistent ; petals large, suborbicular, spreading ; filaments 

 clothed with jointed hairs ; anthers reniform. — % Fls. in terminal^ 

 close umbels^ subtended by 2 or 3 long^ l(^^fy bracts. 



1. T. ViRGiNiCA. Spider-ivort. 



St. erect, simple or branched ; Ivs. lance-linear, channeled above, sessile, 

 glabrous ; /5. in a terminal, subumbellate cluster, pedicels finally elongated and 

 reflexed; cat. pubescent. — Moist meadows, prairies, &c., Middle! and Western 

 States! common. Stem thick, round, jointed, 2 — 3f high. Leaves numerous, 

 subpilose, 12 — 18' by 6 — 12", the bracts similar. Petals large, suborbicular', 

 of a deep, rich blue, soon fading. May— Aug.— The juice of the plant is viscid 

 and spins into thread; hence the common name, 



/?. 1 (T. subaspera. Siitis. 7) Lvs. lanceolate, narrowed to the base, pilose 

 both sides, sheaths entire, ciliate with long, white hairs ; umbels both axillary 

 and terminal ; jls. small, rose-colored. — Shady river banks, la, ! 



2. T. ROSEA. Michx. 



St. erect, simple ; lvs. linear, glabrous, channeled, amplexicaul ; ped. 

 elongated; cat. glabrous.— Penn, to Ga,, in moist woods. Stem'8— 12' high. 

 Leaves 6 — 8' by 2 — 3'. Umbel terminal, subtended by 2 or 3 subulate bracts. 

 Pedicels nearly 1' long. Flowers much smaller than in the preceding species'. 

 Petals rose-colored, twice longer than the smooth calyx. May. 



Order CLVIII. XYRIDACE^.— Xyrids. 



Herbs, Bedgelike. with linear or ensiform leaves. Fla. capitate at the top of a simple scape 



Perianth e-parted, in 2 Heneti, sepalw 3, glumareoiis, pttnl.-) 3, uuiruicuiate. Tmenti 



!^ta. 6, 3 of them with t-xtrorsc anthers and inserted on the claw of the petals, the other 3 abortive fiJa- 



Ora. smgle. .S7y/« tritid. SVj^'/ww obtuse, lobcd. 



Fr— Capsule 3-valvt(i, 1 relied, with parietal placenta;, or 3-celled. 



iieeds numerous, albuminou:i. 



Genera 5. species 70, natives of tropical Asia, Africa and America, a few species of Xyna exfendin* 

 mto the Uiuted States. Ol no important iwe. aicuiuuu 



XYRIS. 



Gr. ^vpo{, acwte-poinfed ; in allu.sion to the form of the leaves. 



Heads of flowers ovoid-cylindric ; sepals cartilaginous ; petals 

 equal, ovate, crcnate, with narrow chiws as long as the sepals ; cap- 

 sule I -celled, with parietal placentae.— Zi\-f. narrowly linear, rigul, 

 radical, sheathing the base oflficsrape. Fls. in a terminal, dense head^ 

 'petals yclloic. 



1. X. Caroliniaxa. Lam. (X. Jupacai. Mx. X. flexuosa. EU.) Yel- 

 Imc-cyed Grass.— Scape slender, compressed and ancipitous above: lvs. 



48 



