COMMELYNACE^. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.) 525 



lauceolate, rather rigid, and like the sheath nearly smooth ; flo'wers smaller, 

 seeds pulverulent. — Liglit or sandy soil, Florida, and northward. May - 

 Sept. 11 — Stem 1°- 2^ high. The spathes contain a viscid secretion until 

 the seeds mature. 



3. C. hirtella, Vahl. Stem stout, erect ; leaves (3' - 5' long) lanceolate 

 or oblong, acute, very rough above, the sheaths fringed with brown hairs ; 

 spathes crowded, short-stalked, hooded, narrowed at the base ; sterile peduncle 

 included; petals nearly alike, the odd one smaller; seeds transversely oblong. 



— Shady swamps, Florida, and northward. August -Sept. 2/ — Stem \° - 

 ir high. 



4. C erecta, L. Upper sheaths and spathes pubescent, otherwise gla- 

 brous ; stems mostly clu.stered and simple, l°high; leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 3' -4' long; spathes single, hooded; cells of the capsule 1-seeded, all dehis- 

 cent ; seeds smooth. — Dry sandy soil in the lower districts. July- Sept. 



2. TRADESCANTIA, L. Spiderwort. 



Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals similar, ovate, fugacious. 

 Stamens all fertile, the filaments hairy : anthers kidney-shaped. Ovary 3- 

 celled, with two ovules in each cell, Capsule 2 - 3-celled, the cells 1 - 2-seeded. 



— Perennial herb.s, with narrow keeled leaves, both the floral ones and those 

 of the stem. Flowers in umbel-like clusters, axillary and terminal, expanding 

 in the morning. Fruiting pedicels recurved. 



1. T. Virginica, L. Smooth, or villous with glandless hairs; leaves 

 linear, broadest at tlie liase, mostly purple-veined ; clusters axillary and ter- 

 minal, sessile, many-flowered ; flowers closely packed in 2 rows in the bud, 

 each with an ovate scarious bract at the base ; petals blue, like the style and 

 densely bearded filaments, twice as long as the lanceolate-ovate sepals. — Dry 

 sandy soil. JNIarch - May. — Stems |°- 2° high. Flowers 1' in diameter. 



2. T. pilosa, Lehm. Stem often branched, and, like the sheaths, villous 

 or nearly smooth ; leaves oblong, narrowed at the ba.se, pubescent on both 

 sides ; clusters axillary and terminal, sessile, dense, many-flowered ; the pedi- 

 cels and oblong sepals villous with glandular hairs ; seeds transversely ol)long, 

 pitted on the back ; petals blue. — Light soil in the upper districts. May - 

 July. — Steml°-l|° high. Leaves 1'- 1^' wide. Flowers f in diameter. 



3. T. rosea, Vent. Stem simple, slender, smooth; leaves linear-lanceo- 

 late, fringed on the margins; clusters solitary or by pairs, on long (3' -6') 

 terminal peduncles, few-flowered ; petals bright rose-color, three times as long 

 as the ovate-lanceolate sepals. — Light fertile soil in the lower districts. 

 June -August. — Stem 6' -8' high. Flowers ^ in diameter. 



4. T. Floridana, Watson. Stem (4'- 8' long) tender, ascending from 

 a creeping base, branching; leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute, ciliate at 

 the l)ase (f or less long), the floral ones bract-like; flowers very small (2"- 

 3" wide), terminal, shorter tlian their pedicels; sepals pubescent. — Coast of 

 East Florida (Curtiss). 



