BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY. 
x. Abama Americana (Ker.) Morong. 
American Bog-asphodel. (Fig. 969. ) 
Narthecium Americanum Ker, Bot. Mag. p/. 1505. 1812. 
Narthecium ossifragum var. Americanum A. Gray, Man. 
Ed. 5, 536. 1867. 
Abama Americana Morong, Mem. Torr. Club, 5: 109. 
1894 
Glabrous, stems wiry, stiff, erect, 10’-18’ tall. Basal 
leaves 3/-8’ long, 1’’ wide or less, finely 7-9-nerved; 
lower stem leaves 14/—2’ long, the upper much smaller; 
raceme 1/-2’ long, dense; perianth-segments narrowly 
linear, 2’’-3’’ long, slightly exceeding the stamens; 
filaments white-woolly; pedicels ascending, 3//—4/’ 
long in fruit; capsule about 5’’ long, 1’’ in diameter at 
the middle, erect, nearly twice as long as the perianth- 
segments, tapering to a subulate beak; seeds, including 
the appendages, 3/’-4’’ long. 
In pine barren swamps, southern New Jersey. June- 
Sept. WKS 
ta XEROPHYLLUM Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 210. 1803. 
Tall perennial herbs, with thick short woody rootstocks, simple erect leafy stems, the 
leaves narrowly linear, rough-margined, the upper ones shorter than the lower. Flowers 
yery numerous, medium-sized, white, in a large dense terminal raceme, the lower ones first 
expanding. Perianth withering-persistent, its segments oblong or ovate, 5-7-nerved, spread- 
ing, glandless. Stamens 6, rather shorter than the perianth-segments; filaments subulate, 
glabrous; anthers oblong. Ovary sessile, 3-grooved; styles 3, filiform, reflexed or recurved, 
stigmatic along the inner side; ovules only 2-4 in each cell. Capsule ovoid, 3-grooved, loc- 
ulicidally and sometimes also septicidally dehiscent. Seeds 5, oblong, not at all appendaged, 
or only minutely so. [Greek, signifying a dry leaf. ] 
Three species, the following of the southeastern United States, the others of western America. 
1. Xerophyllum asphodeloides (LL. ) 
Nutt. Turkey-beard. (Fig. 970.) 
Helonias asphodelotdes I,. Sp. Pl. Ed. 2, 485. 1762. 
dO Ue selifolium Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. I: 211. 
} eran ioiliar asphodeloides Nutt. Gen. 1: 235. 1818. 
Stem stout, becoming stiff, 21%4°-5° tall, densely 
leafy below and at the base, sparsely leafy above. 
Leaves very narrowly linear, slightly dilated at the 
base, the lower 6/-18/ long, 1’’ wide or less, except 
at the broader base, the upper successively shorter 
and narrower; flowering raceme 3/-6’ long, 2/—3/ 
in diameter, its summit conic; flowering pedicels 
spreading, filiform, 9’’-18’’ long, in fruit erect; 
perianth-segments ovate-oblong, obtuse, about 3/- 
long; styles rather longer than the ovary; capsule 
ellipsoid, obtuse, 2’” long, 1//-114’’ in diameter; 
seeds mostly 2 in each cell. 
In dry pine barrens, southern New Jersey to eastern 
Tennessee and Georgia. May-July. Ascends to 5000 
ft. in North Carolina, 
4. HELONIAS L. Sp. Pl. 342. 1753. 
A perennial glabrous bog herb, with a stout rootstock, thick fibrous roots, basal ob- 
lanceolate persistent leaves and rather large perfect purple flowers, racemed at the summit 
of an erect hollow bracted scape. Perianth-segments spreading, spatulate, persistent. 
Stamens 6, hypogynous, longer than the perianth-segments; filaments filiform; anthers ovate. 
Ovary ovoid, 3-grooved, 3-celled, slightly 3-lobed, many-ovuled; styles 3, stigmatic along 
the inner side, deciduous. Capsule obovoid, deeply 3-lobed, the lobes divergent, ventrally 
dehiscent above. Seeds numerous, linear, white-appendaged at each end. [Name from the 
Greek, in allusion to its growth in swamps. ] 
A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 
