Notes on the North American Species of Eriocauleee, 



By Thomas Morong. 



This order is sparsely represented in North America, consist- 

 ing in fact only of a few outlying members of a tropical family. 

 A single species only is found as far north as Canada, the greater 

 number occurring in the warm sections of the United States. 

 The genus Lachnocaiilon, however, is endemic in our country, 

 and therefore has a special interest for us. The great bulk of the 

 family is confined to South America, where three-quarters of the 

 three hundred and twenty-five species embraced in it occur. Our 

 own species have been imperfectly investigated and poorly de- 

 fined, and for this reason the present paper has been prepared in 

 the hope that something may be contributed towards a better 

 understanding of their characters and geographical distribution. 



In general aspect these plants may be easily recognized, being 

 very peculiar. The flowers are androgynous or dioecious and 

 contained in more or less hemispherical heads which are enclosed 

 by involucral scales as in the Compositae. In the place of 

 growth they favor swampy grounds or shallow water, but a 

 few grow in low sandy barrens or fields. In mode of growth 

 the; are caespitose, and new tufts of leaves are added year 

 by ^ar to the stock so that in time quite a little colony is col- 

 lectt about the same caudex, from which scapes, sometimes 

 very numerous, are annually sent up. The scapes are nearly 

 always twisted in the growth, and always marked longitudinally 

 by angles, which are frequently interrupted by intermediate 

 ridges or stri^. As these intermediate ridges are often partial, 

 the number of angles assigned to a scape will vary with the point 



