COMMELYNACE.E. (si'IDERYTORT FAMILY.) 497 



1. S. graminea, Wllld. Stem submerged, forking, leaves thin, pellucid ; 

 flowers expanding at the Burface of the water; Bpathe convolute; lobes of the 

 perianth linear, spreading. (Leptanthos, Michx.) — In flowing water, North Caro- 

 lina, and northward. July and Aug. — Stems l°-2° long. Leaves 8' -6' long. 

 Tube of the perianth 1^' long. 



Order 155. COMMELYNACEJE. (Spider-wort Family.) 



Herbs, with chiefly fibrous roots, jointed and leafy stems, and perfect 

 or somewhat polygamous often irregular flowers. — Perianth of three her- 

 baceous or colored persistent sepals, and three fugacious petals. Stamens 

 G, hypogynous, perfect, or a part of them sterile: anthers 2-celled, often 

 of two forms. Styles single: stigma entire. Ovary free from the peri- 

 anth, 2-3-celled, with 1 — several orthotropous ovules in each cell. Cap- 

 sule loculicidally 2— 3-valved, 1- several-seeded. Embryo pulley-shaped, 

 placed in a cavity of the albumen opposite the hilum. — Hants somewhat 

 succulent. Stems often branching. Sheaths of the leaves entire or open. 



1. COMMELYNA, Dill. Day-flower. 



Flowers irregular. Sepals mostly colored. Petals fugacious, two of them 

 kidney-shaped and long-clawed, the other smaller. Stamens unequal, three of 

 them fertile, the others with 4-lobed sterile anthers : filaments beardless. Cap- 

 sule 1 -3-celled, the cells 1 -2-seeded, or one of them frequently empty. — Stems 

 branching. Leaves flat, oblong, or lanceolate, on sheathing petioles ; the floral 

 ones cordate and spathe-like, folded, and enclosing the few-flowered peduncle. 

 Flowers blue. 



I. C. communis, L. ' Stem smooth, filiform, and creeping; leaves short 

 (l'-2' long), ovate-lanceolate, obtuse; sheaths fringed at the throat; spathes 

 nearly crescent-shaped, obtuse at the base, lateral and terminal ; peduncles by 

 pairs; one of them bearing 3-4 small fertile flowers, which are included in the 

 spathe ; the other long-exserted, filiform, 1-flowered ; odd petal lanceolate, sessile; 

 seeds reticulated — Low grounds, Georgia to North Carolina. July - Sept. (5) ? 

 — Stem l°-2° long 



2 C. Virginiea, L. Pubescent; stem erect; sheaths hairy; leaves (4'- 

 6' long) oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, thin, rough above; spathe (when opened) 

 round ovate, contracted at the base ; sterile peduncle included ; petals large, the 

 odd one lanceolate ; capsule 2 -3-seeded. (C. erecta, Ell.) — Varies (C. angus- 

 tifolia, Michx.) with the stems smooth, ascending; leaves narrowly lanceolate, 

 rather rigid, and like the sheath, nearly smooth ; flowers smaller, seeds pulveru- 

 lent. — Light or sandy soil, Florida, and northward. May - Sept. 1J. — Stem 

 1° - 2° high The spathes contain a viscid secretion until the seeds mature. 



3. C. erecta, L. Stem stout, erect; leaves (3' -5' long) lanceolate or ob- 

 long, acute, very rough above, the sheaths fringed with brown hairs ; spathes 

 42* 



