MELANTHACEZ., (COLCHICUM FAMILY.) 491 
stigmas decurrent within. Capsule roundish, 3-lobed, loculicidally 3-valved. 
Seeds 2 in each cell, collateral, oblong, wingless. — Stem bulbous at the base, 
simple, leafy. Leaves dry, rigid, rough on the margins, very narrow, dilated at 
the base ; those of the stem very numerous and needle-shaped. Flowers white, 
in a simple dense raceme, 
1, X. asphodeloides, Gray. (Helonias asphodeloides, L.) — Dry sandy 
soil, North Carolina, and northward. May and June.— Stem 3°-5° high. 
Radical leaves spreading, 1° or more long, very slender-pointed. Flowers 2!'+ 
long. Stamens dilated below. 
ll. CHAMZELIRIUM, Willd. 
Flowers dicecious. Leaves of the perianth linear-spatulate, shorter than the 
filiform filaments. Anthers 2-celled, roundish. Styles club-shaped : stigmas 
decurrent. Capsule ovoid, 3-angled, loculicidally 3-valved, many-seeded. Seeds 
linear-oblong, winged at the ends. — Stem simple, from a thick rhizoma, leafy. 
Lowest leaves spatulate or obovate, the others linear or lanceolate. Flowers 
small, white, in a simple spiked raceme. 
1. C. luteum, Gray. (Helonias dioica, Pursh.) — Low grounds, Florida, 
and northward. May and June. — Stem 1°-2° high, furrowed. Radical leaves 
clustered, 2/ —4' long, spreading; the uppermost small and bract-like. Racemes 
6! — 12' long, the sterile ones slender and drooping at the summit; the fertile 
rigid and erect. Perianth inconspicuous. ROE ir i 
12. PLEEA, Michx. 
Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth sessile, widely spreading, lanceolate, 
rigid. Stamens 9-12, shorter than the perianth: filaments slender: anthers 
linear, introrse, 2-cleft at the base, versatile. Styles short, subulate . stigmas 
simple. Capsule coriaceous, ovate, 3-lobed, many-seeded ; the cells opening 
down the inner suture. Seeds oblong, bristle-pointed. — Stems smooth and 
slender, from clustered rootstocks. Leaves chiefly radical, very narrow, 2-edged, 
equitant. Flowers few in a simple raceme, white. Bracts spathe-like, clasping. 
1. P. tenuifolia, Michx. — Pine-barren swamps and bogs, Florida to 
North Carolina. Oct.— Stem rush-like, 2° high. Radical leaves erect, rigid, 
perennial, 6'-9' long. Raceme rigid, 6 - 9-flowered, the erect pedicels enclosed 
in the rigid clasping bracts. Flowers 1! wide, greenish without. iR] 
