LiLiACE^. (lily family.) 533 



the sli2:htly lobed sessile stigma, loculicidal, many-seeded. Seeds ascending, 

 appendaged at each end with a long bristle-form tail. — Rootstock creeping, 

 bearing linear equitant leaves, and a simple stem or scape, terminated by a 

 simple dense bracteate raceme ; pedicels bearing a linear bractlet. (Name an 

 anagram of Aiithcricum, from avdepiKos, supposed to have been the Asphodel.) 

 1. N. Amerieanum, Ker. Stem 1° high or more; leaves V wide, 

 7-9-nerved; raceme dense (1-2' long); perianth-segments narrowly linear 

 (2-2|" long), scarcely exceeding the stamens. (N. ossifragum, var. Ameri- 

 eanum, Gray,) — Sandy bogs, pine-barrens of N. J, June, July. 



29. MELANTHIUM, Linn. 



Flowers monoeciously polygamous. Perianth of 6 separate and free widely 

 spreading somewhat heart-shaped or oblong and halberd-shaped or oblanceolate 

 sepals, raised on slender claws, cream-colored or greenish, tlie base marked with 

 2 approximate or confluent glands, or glaudless, turning greenish brown and 

 persistent. Filaments shoi'ter than the sepals, adhering to their claws often to 

 near the summit, persistent. Anthers heart-shaped or kidney -shaped, couflu- 

 ently 1-celled, shield-shaped after opening, extrorse. Styles 3, awl-shaped, 

 diverging, tipped with simple stigmas. Capsule ovoid-conical, 3-lobed, of 3 

 inflated membranaceous carpels united in the axis, separating when ripe, and 

 splitting down the inner edge, several-seeded. Seeds flat, broadly winged. — 

 Stems tall and leafy, from a thick rootstock, roughish-downy above, as well as 

 the open and ample pyramidal panicle (composed chiefly of simple racemes), 

 the terminal part mostly fertile. Leaves linear to oblanceolate or oval, not 

 plaited. (Name composed of ^ueAas, black, and &vdos,Jlou'er, from the darker 

 color which the persistent perianth assumes after blossoming.) 



* Sepals icith a conspicuous doulJe-f/land at the summit of the claw. 



1. M. Virginicum, L. (Binch-flower.) Stem 3-5° high, leafy, 

 rather slender; leaves linear (4-10" wide); sepals flat, ovate to oblong or 

 slightly hastate (2|-4" long) ; capsule 6" long; seeds 10 in each cell, 2-3" 

 long. — Wet meadows, X. Eng. to N. C, west to IMinn. and Tex. 



2. M. latifolium, Desrouss. Leaves more oblanceolate, often 2' broad ; 

 sepals undulate (2-3" long), the very narrow claw nearly equalling the orbicu- 

 lar or ovate blade ; capsule 6 - 8" long ; styles more slender ; seeds 4 - 8 in each 

 cell, 3-4" long. (M. racemosum, Michx.) — W. Conn, to S. C. 



* * Sepa/s oblanceolate, without glands. 



3. M. parviflorum, Watson. Stem rather slender (2 - S*^ high), spar- 

 ingly leafy, naked above; leaves oval to oblanceolate (2-4' wide), on long 

 petioles; sepals 2-3" long, oblanceolate or spatulate, those of the sterile flow- 

 ers on claws ; stamens very short ; capsule 6" long ; seeds 4 - 6 in each cell, 4" 

 long. ( Veratrum parviflorum, Michx.) — In the Alleghauies, Va. to S. C. 



30. VERATRUM, Tourn. False Hellebore. 



Flowers monoeciously polygamous. Perianth of 6 spreading and separate 

 obovate-oblong (greenish or brownish) sepals, more or less contracted at the 

 base (but not clawed), nearly free from the ovary, not gland-bearing. Fila- 

 ments free from the sepals and shorter than they, recurving. Anthers, pistils, 



