DIOSCOKEACEJE. (yAM FAMILY.) 501 



2. SISYRINCHIUM, L. Blue-eted Grass. 



Perianth corolla-like, 6-parted, the divisions nearly equal, spreading. Sta- 

 mens 3, mouadelphous : anthers sagittate. Style short : stigmas 3, simple, 

 filiform and involute. Capsule and seeds roundish. — Grass-like herbs, with 

 fibrous roots, and scape-like 2-edged stems. Flowers small, in an umbellate 

 cluster, successively developed from a rigid 2-leaved .spathe. Perianth blue, 

 with a yellow centre. 



1. S. aneeps, Cav, Stem branching and leafy above. 10'- 1.5' high; 

 spathes two or more, long-peduncled, its leaves nearly equal. — Damp soil, 

 Florida, and northward. July - Sept. 



2. S. angustifolium, Mill. Stem simple, leafless, 6'- 12' high; spathe 

 solitary, terminal, sessile, its leaves very unequal ; flowers and fruit larger. — 

 Mostly in dry soil in the upper districts. June - August. 



3. NEMASTYLIS, Nutt. 



Perianth 6-parted, the divisions nearly equal and spreading. Stamens 3, 

 distinct, with the subulate filaments much shorter than the elongated linear 

 anthers. Style short, 3-lobed, with the lobes 2-parted, each division produced 

 into filiform radiating stigmas. Capsule oblong, truncated. — Herbs with 

 coated bulbous roots, linear plicate leaves, and very fugacious flowers from a 

 2-leaved spathe. 



1. N. COelestina, Nutt. Bulb small, roundish; radical leaves few, 

 elongated, sheathing; those of the stem diminishing upward, the uppermost 

 bract-like ; flowers mostly solitary, terminal ; divisions of the perianth oblong- 

 obovate; capsule obtusely 3-angled; seeds angular, brown. — Pine barrens, 

 Florida, and westward. May -June. — Stem 1^°- 2° high. Flowers bright 

 blue. 



The Blackberry-Lily of the gardens (Balamcaxda, Adans.) is occasion- 

 ally seen spontaneous along roads and in waste ground. 



Order 150. DIOSCOREACE^E. (Yam Family.) 



Twining herbs, with tuberous roots, ribbed and reticulated leaves, 

 and small regular dicscious flowers, in axillary spikes or panicles. — 

 Perianth 6-parted, the tube (in the fertile flower) adherent to the 8- 

 celled ovary. Stamens 6 : anthers 2-celled, introrse. Ovules anatro- 

 pous, 1-2 in each cell. Styles 3, more or le.ss united below. Fruit 

 mostly capsular, 3-6-seeded. Embryo minute, in hard albumen. 



1. DIOSCOREA, Plum. Yam. 



Tube of the perianth 3-winged. Stamens inserted at the base of tlie limb. 

 Capsule 6-seeded, membranaceous, 3-winged, opening septicidally through the 

 wings. Seeds flat, broadly winged. — Leaves ]jetioled, mostly cordate and en- 

 tire. Petioles tumid at the lja.se. 



