474 DIOSCOREACES. (YAM FAMILY.) 
1. S. Bermudiana, L. Leaves linear, erect; stem simple or sparingly 
branched, naked or 1-—2-leaved, more or less broadly 2-winged ; leaves of the 
spathe equal and shorter than the flowers, or the lower one much longer than 
the flowers; perianth blue, yellow in the centre; the divisions notched and 
bristle-awned at the apex. (S. mucronatum, Michx.) — Grassy meadows, or 
sometimes in dry soil, Florida, and northward. July and Aug.— Stem 6/- 18' 
high. Leaves mostly shorter than the stem. Flowers 4-6 in a spathe, }! wide, 
opening in the evening. 
3. NEMASTYLIS, Nutt. 
Perianth 6-parted, the divisions nearly equal and spreading. Stamens 3, dis- 
tinct, with the subulate filaments much shorter than the elongated linear anthers. 
Style short, 3-lobed, with the lobes 2-parted, each division produced into filiform 
radiating stigmas. Capsule oblong, truncated. — Herbs with coated bulbous 
roots, linear plicate leaves, and very fugacious flowers from a 2-leaved spathe. 
1. N. colestina, Nutt. Bulb small, roundish ; radical leaves few, elon- 
gated, sheathing ; those of the stem diminishing upward, the uppermost bract- 
like ; flowers mostly solitary, terminal ; divisions of the perianth oblong-obovate ; 
capsule obtusely 3-angled ; seeds angular, brown. -(Ixia ccelestina, Bartram.) — 
Pine barrens, Florida to South Carolina, and westward. May and June.— Stem 
1j?-29 high. Flowers bright blue. 
ORDER 148. DIOSCOREACEJE. (Yam Fair.) 
Twining herbs, with tuberous roots, ribbed and reticulated leaves, and 
small regular diccious flowers, in axillary spikes or panicles. — Perianth 
6-parted, the tube (in the fertile flower) adherent to the 3-celled ovary- 
Stamens 6: anthers 2-celled, introrse. Ovules anatropous, 1-2 in each 
cell Styles 3, more or less united below. Fruit mostly capsular, "Y 
seeded. Embryo minute, in hard albumen. 
l. DIOSCOREA, Plum. Yam. 
Tube of the perianth 3-winged. Stamens inserted at the base of the limb. 
Capsule 6-seeded, membranaceous, 3 winged, opening septicidally through d 
wings. Seeds flat, broadly winged.— Leaves petioled, mostly cordate and entire 
Petioles tumid at the base. Ed o 
_1. D. villosa, L. Stem smooth (109—159 long) ; leaves alternate, OPP” 
site, or whorled, broadly cordate, acuminate, 7 — 9-nerved, smooth, or p"' 
beneath, mostly longer than the slender petiole ; flowers very small, whitish; the 
sterile ones in scattered clusters on the very slender branches of the axillary 
| a simple spike; stigmas notched at the apex; caps sule 
