488 MELANTHACKJE. (COI.< II [4 I M FAMILY.) 



tlie apex, longer than the filaments. Styles united : stigma 3-cl< ft or entire. 

 Berry nearly globose, many-seeded — Erect herbs, with spreading branches. 

 Leaves clasping. Peduncles opposite the leaves, bent or twisted in the middle. 



J 1. S. roseus, Michx. Stem much branched, with the branches fle.xuous 

 and sprinkled with hairs; leaves ovate, or the uppermost lanceolate, acuminate, 



Blightly clasping, ciliate on the margins, 5 - "-nerved ; flowers mostly solitary, 

 small, rose-color, nodding; anthers 2-pointed at the apex; stigma 3-cleft. — 

 Shady woods on the mountains of Georgia, and northward. May. — Stem 2° 

 high. Leaves 2'- 4' long, green on both sides. Flowers 3" - 4" long. 



4. MELANTHIUM, L. 



Flowers monceeiously polygamous. Divisions of the perianth spreading, 

 long-clawed, somewhat cordate or hastate and biglandular at the base ; the fila- 

 ments partly adhering to their claws: anthers reniform, becoming reltate, the 

 cells confluent. Styles 3, subulate. Capsule membranaceous, 3-lobed, the cells 

 separating and opening down the inner suture, several-seeded. Seeds flat, 

 winged. — Stems tumid at the base, rough-pubescent above. Leaves long, lin- 

 ear. Flowers panicled, cream-color, turning brownish. 



,J_ 1. M. Virgillicum, L. Stem tall, simple, the upper portion, like the 

 loose panicle, pubescent and somewhat hoary, lowest leaves long, broadly lin- 

 ear and claspiqg, the upper small and sosile ; Bowers shorter than the pedicels, 

 the upper ones perfect; leaves of the perianth oblong or roundish, often acute, 

 the slender claw adnatc to the lower half of the filaments ; glands conspicuous. 

 (M. hybridum, Walt., the claws concave and adnata to the filaments below the 

 middle ; glands connivent or obscure.) — Swamps, Florida, and northward. 

 July and Aug. — Stem 3° - 4° high. Lowest leaves 1° - l£° long. 



5. ZIGADENUS, Michx. 



Flowers perfect Leaves of the perianth ovate or oblong, spreading, sessile or 

 nearly so, 1 - 2-glandular at the base. Filaments free from the perianth, and of 

 equal length : anthers broadly cordate, becoming peltate. Styles 3, slender, 

 spreading. Capsule membranaceous, 3-angled, Bepticiaal at the apex, many- 

 seeded. Seeds oblong, wingless, or slightly margined. — Stems smooth and 

 simple. Lowest leaves crowded, linear. Flowers white, in crowded panicles. 



1. Z. glaberrimus, Michx Stem rigid, leafy; lowest leaves broadly 

 linear, elongated, glaucous beneath, the upper small and scattered ; panicle Bmall, 

 rigid; bracts ovate; leaves of the perianth oblong, Bhort-clawed, often with a 



white Callus On one or bofll sides :it the base; glands prominent ; stamens and 



style- subulate; eeds oblong — Pine-barren swamps, Florida to North Carolina. 

 June and July. — Stem 2°- 8° high. Lowest leaves io_iio ) on ^. Panicle 

 6' -12' long, commonly dense. F 1 wers 1' in diameter, as long as the pedicels. 



2. Z. leimanthoides, Gray. Stem slender, somewhat naked above; 



leaves narrowly linear, green 0U both sides; panicle slender; bracts lanceolate ; 



of Hi' perianth oval or obovate, sessile, the glands obscure or wanting ; 



