MELANTHACEÆ, (COLCHICUM FAMILY.) 489 
stamens and styles filiform ; seeds narrowly margined, winged at the apex. 
(Helonias graminea, Ell.) — Mountain swamps, Georgia, and northward. July 
and Aug.— Stem 2°-4° high. Lowest leaves 19-29 long. Panicle 8/ - 19^ 
long. Flowers 4" in diameter, much shorter than the slender pedicels. 
6. STENANTHIUM, Gray. 
Flowers perfect or polygamous. | Leaves of the perianth lanceolate, acuminate, 
united at the base, and adnate to the base of the ovary, longer than the stamens. 
Glands none. Anthers roundish, becoming peltate. Styles short, subulate : 
stigmas minute. Capsule ovate, membranaceous, septicidal at the apex, several- 
seeded. Seeds nearly wingless. — Stem smooth, slender, tumid at the base. 
Lowest leaves elongated, channelled. Flowers small, greenish-white, in a simple 
panicle. 
1. S. angustifolium, Gray. (Veratrum angustifolium, Pursh.) — Shady 
woods and banks, Florida, and northward. June and July. — Stem 29-39 
high. Lowest leaves 12 —29 long. Panicle 19-29 long, composed of simple 
spiked racemes ; the lower flowers often sterile. Perianth about 4” in diameter, 
nearly sessile, twice as long as the stamens. 
| 7. VERATRUM, Tourn. Farse HELLEBORE. 
Flowers polygamous. Leaves of the perianth spreading, distinct, c 
or 
obovate, narrowed at the base, free from the ovary, glandless, longer than the 
stamens. Styles short, subulate. Capsule oblong, membranaccous, 3-pointed, 
the cells opening above at the inner suture. Seeds few, flat, broadly winged. — 
Stems leafy, tumid at the base, pubescent. Leaves oval or oblong, plaited. 
Flowers in ample panicles, green or purplish-brown. : 
l. V. viride, L. Stem stout, leafy throughout ; leaves broadly oval, acute, 
strongly plaited, clasping, pubescent beneath; panicle pyramidal, composed of 
numerous dense racemes ; divisions of the perianth oblong, smooth, yellowish 
green, longer than the pedicels and twice as long as the stamens. — Mountain 
meadows, Georgia, and northward. April and May.—Stem 3°-7° high. 
Lower leaves 1° long. Flowers large.— The plant is possessed of active, but 
deleterious properties, 
2. V. intermedium, n. sp. Stem slender, leafy; lowest leaves nearly 
smooth, lanceolate or oblong, acute, narrowed into a long sheathing petiole, 
strongly plaited , the upper ones small, lanceolate, scattered, pubescent beneath d 
panicle large, composed of long and slender loosely-flowered racemes ; leaves of 
the perianth spatulate-oblong, dark brown within, hoary puberulent without, as 
long as the pedicels, rather longer than the stamens; ovary woolly ; lobes of the 
capsule winged; seeds linear-oblong, broadly winged. — Rich shady hummocks, 
Middle Florida. July.— Stem 3°-5° high. Lower leaves 1° long. Flowers. 
6”~8" wide. Intermediate between V. Woodii, Robbins, and the next, of which 
it may prove to be a variety. — Ee MN 
. 3. V. parviflorum, Michx. Stem slender, naked above; leaves varying 
