ORCHIDACEAE. 85 



mens 3, inserted on the perianth opposite the outer 

 series of segments or lobes; filaments filiform, distinct or 

 united ; anthers 2-celled, extrorse. Ovary inferior, mostly 

 3-celled; ovules mostly numerous in each cell; style 3- 

 cleft, its branches sometimes divided. Capsule 3-celled, 

 loculicidally dehiscent, many-seeded. 



1. SISYRINCHIUM L. Blue-eyed Grass. 



Perennial tufted slender herbs with short rootstocks, 

 simple or branched, 2-edged or 2-winged stems, linear 

 grass-like leaves and rather small mostly blue terminal 

 flowers, umbellate from a pair of erect green bracts. 

 Perianth-tube short or none, the segments oblong or obo- 

 vate, equal, mostly aristulate. Stamens more or less 

 monodelphous. Style branches filiform, undivided, alter- 

 nate with the anthers. Capsule globose or obovoid. 

 Seeds mostly rounded, smooth or pitted. 



1. S. bellum Wats. Stems 2-4 dm. high, glabrous or with sca- 

 brous margins, with 1-3 floriferous nodes at the summit; peduncles 

 usually 2 at each node; spathes of 2, nearly equal bracts, scabrous 

 on the keel, 4-7-flowered; perianth deep blue-purple with yellowish 

 base, 2 cm. broad or more; stamens united to near the summit; 

 anthers very small; capsule round-obovoid, 6 mm. high; seeds 1.5 

 mm. thick, obscurely pitted. 



Frequent on grassy slopes, both in the valleys and mountains 

 from near sea-level to 6000 feet. April-August. 



Family 15. ORCHIDACEAE. Orchid Family. 



Perennial herbs, with corms, bulbs or tuberous roots, 

 sheathing entire leaves sometimes reduced to scales. 

 Flowers perfect, irregular, bracted, solitary, spiked or 

 racemed. Perianth of 6 segments: the outer {sepals) 

 similar or nearly so; 2 of the inner ones {petals) lateral, 

 alike; the third {lip) dissimilar, usually larger, often 

 spurred, sometimes inferior by torsion of the ovary or 

 pedicel. Stamens variously united with the style into 

 an unsymmetrical column; anther (in ours) 2-celled; pol- 

 len in 2-8 pear-shaped usually stalked masses {pollinia), 

 united by elastic threads, waxy or powdery, attached at 



