JUNCACE^. (rush family.) 539 



(C. erecta, Gray, Man., not L.) — Eiver-))anks, Penn. to Fla., west to Mo. 

 and Tex. 



* * C(Us\-nimled,\-see(led ; seeds smooth ; spathe cucidlate ; roots suh-tuherous. 



3. C. erdcta, L. Slender, often low; leaves linear; cells all dehiscent. — 

 Penu. to Fla. 



4. C. Virginica, L. Slender, usually tall; leaves lanceolate to linear; 

 dorsal cell in dehiscent, scabrous. — Damp rich woods and banks, southern N. Y„ 

 to Fla., west to Mich., Iowa, and Mo. 



2. TRADESCANTIA, L. Spiderw^ort. 



Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all alike, ovate, sessile. Sta 

 mens all fertile ; filaments bearded. Capsule 2 - 3-celled, the cells 1 - 2-seeded. 

 — Perennials. Stems mucilaginous, mostly upright, nearly simple, leafy. 

 Leaves keeled. Flowers ephemeral, in umbelled clusters, axillary and ter- 

 minal, produced through the summer; floral leaves nearly like the others. 

 (Named fur the elder Tradescant, gardener to Charles the First of England.) 



* Umbels terminal or sometimes lateral, sessile, subtended bi/ I or 2 leaf -like 



bracts ; leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate ; flowers blue. 



1. T. Virginica, L. (Common Spiderwort.) Roots fleshy-fibrous, 

 smooth or only slightly villous, more or less glaucous, often tall and slender 

 and with linear leaves, rather rarely with 1 or 2 long lateral peduncles , bracts 

 usuallv a pair. — Rich ground, N. Y. to Fla., west to Minn., Tex., and the 

 Rocky Mts. Very variable. — Var. vill6sa, AVatson. Often dwarf, more or 

 less villous throughout as well as pubescent. Mississippi valley and Gulf 

 States. — Var. flexu6sa, Watson. Stout and dark green, with large linear- 

 lanceoiate pubescent leaves, the stem usually flexuous, and with several short 

 lateral branches or sessile axillary heads. (T flexuosa, Raf) — Ohio to Ky 

 and Ga. T. pilosa, Lehm., is an intermediate form. 



* * Umbel pedunculate, subtended by small subscarious bracts ; flowers small, 



rose-color. 



2. T. rosea, Vent. Small, slender (6- 10' high), smooth, erect from a 

 running rootstock ; leaves very narrowly linear, grass-like. — Sandy woods, 

 Md. to Fla., west to Ky. and Mo. 



Order 121. JUNCACE^. (Rush Family.) 



Grass-like or rush-like herbs, with small /loivers, a regular and liypogynous 

 persistent perianth of Q similar glumaceous sepals, 6 or rarely 3 stamens with 

 2-celled anthers, a single short style, ?> filiform hairy stigmas, and an ovary 

 either ^-celled or 1-celled with 3 parietal placejitce, forming a. loculicidal 

 3-valved capside. Seeds anatropons, with a minute embryo enclosed at the 

 base of the fleshy albumen. — Flowers liliaceous in structure, but sedge- 

 like in aspect and texture. 



1. Juncus. Capsule 3-oelled (or imperfectly so), many-seeded. Plants never hairy, ni 



moist grninid or water. 



2. Liuzula. Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded. Plants often liairy, in dry ground. 



