MELANTHACE.E. (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 l°-2° long. Panicle 8'- 12' 

 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 2° - 3° 

 high. Lowest leaves l°-2° long. Panicle l°-2° 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. False Hellebore. 



Flowers polygamous. Leaves of the perianth spreading, distinct, oblong or 

 obovate, narrowed at the base, free from the ovary, glandless, longer than the 

 stamens Styles short, subulate. Capsule oblong, membranaceous, 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. 



1. 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 ; 

 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. 



3. V. parviflorum, Michx. Stem slender, naked above ; leaves varying 

 from lanceolate to oval, smooth, slightly plaited, narrowed into sheathing peti- 



