488 MELANTHACEJX. (COLCHICUM FAMILY.) 
the apex, longer than the filaments. Styles united: stigma 3-cleft or entire, 
Berry nearly globose, many-seeded. — Erect herbs, with spreading branches. 
Leaves clasping. Peduncles opposite the leaves, bent or twisted in the middle. 
1. S. roseus, Michx. Stem much branched, with the branches flexuous 
and sprinkled with hairs ; leaves ovate, or the uppermost lanceolate, acuminate, 
slightly clasping, ciliate on the margins, 5-7-nerved ; flowers mostly solitary, 
small, rose-color, nodding; anthers 2-pointed at the apex; stigma 3-cleft.— 
Shady woods on the mountains of Georgia, and northward. May.— Stem 2° 
high. Leaves 2'— 4' long, green on both sides. Flowers 3” — 4” long. 
4. MELANTHIUM, L. 
Flowers monceciously polygamous. Divisions of the perianth spreading, 
long-clawed, somewhat cordate or hastate and biglandular at the base; the fila- * 
ments partly adhering to their claws: anthers reniform, becoming peltate, the 
cells confluent. Styles 3, subulate. Capsule membranaceous, 3-lobed, the cells 
separating and opening down the inner suture, several-seeded. Seeds flat, 
winged.— Stems tumid at the base, rough-pubescent above. Leaves long, lin- 
ear. Flowers panicled, cream-color, turning brownish. 
1. M. Virginicum, L. Stem tall, simple, the upper portion, like the 
loose panicle, pubescent and somewhat hoary ; lowest leaves long, broadly lin- 
ear ahd clasping, the upper small and sessile; flowers shorter than the pedicels, 
the upper ones perfect ; leaves of the perianth oblong or roundish, often acute, 
the slender claw adnate to the lower half of the filaments; glands conspicuous. 
(M. hybridum, Walt., the claws concave and adnate to the filaments below the 
middle; glands connivent or obscure.) — Swamps, Florida, and northward. 
July and Aug. — Stem 3°-4° high. Lowest leaves 19 - 13? long. 
5. ZIGADENUS, Michx. ET 
"Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth ovate or oblong, spreading, sessile or 
nearly so, 1- 2-glandular at the base. Filaments free from the periantb, and of 
equal length: anthers broadly cordate, becoming peltate. Styles 3, slender, 
spreading. Capsule membranaceous, 3-angled, septicidal at the apex, ey" 
seeded. Seeds oblong, wingless, or slightly margined. — Stems auf 
simple. Lowest leaves crowded, linear. Flowers white, in crowded panicles. 
1. Z. glaberrimus, Michx. Stem rigid, leafy; lowest leaves broadly 
linear, elongated, glaucous beneath, the upper small and scattered ; panicle smal} P 
rigid; bracts ovate; leaves of the perianth oblong, short-clawed, pep — 
white callus on one or both sides at the base; glands prominent; stamens ! 
styles sufulate ; seeds oblong — Pine-barren swamps, Florida to North Caro ick 
June and July. — Stem 2°-3° high. Lowest leaves 19-139 long. +% 
.  €'-12'long, commonly dense. Flowers 1’ in diameter, as long as the pedice™ 
