BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY. 405 
2. Zygadenus élegans Pursh. Glaucous Zygadenus. (Fig. 977.) 
Zygadenus elegans Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 241. 1814. 
Melanthium glaucum Nutt. Gen, 1: 232. _ 1818. 
aoe Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. 7: 56. 
Plant very glaucous, bulb ovoid, about 1’ 
long, its coats membranous. Stem slender, 
6/—3° tall; leaves 2’’-7’ wide, keeled, the lower 
4/-12/ long, the upper much shorter; bracts 
lanceolate, rather large, green or purplish; in- 
florescence a simple raceme or a large panicle, 
sometimes 1° long, open, its branches slender, 
ascending; flowers greenish, 8’’—10’’ broad; per- 
ianth-segments oval or obovate, obtuse, united 
below and adnate to the base of the ovary, bear- 
ing a single large obcordate gland just above the 
short claw; capsule oblong, nearly 1’ long, ex- 
ceeding the perianth. 
In moist places, New Brunswick to Alaska, south 
to Vermont, New York, Missouri, and in the Rocky 
Mountains to New Mexico. June-Aug. Ascends 
to 4ooo ft. in the Black Hills. 
3. Zygadenus Nuttallii (A. Gray) 
S. Wats. Nuttall’s Zygadenus. 
(Fig. 978.) 
Amianthium Nuttallii A. Gray, Ann. Lye. N. Y. 4: 
123. 1837. 
Zygadenus Nuttallii S. Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 14: 
279. 1879. 
Light green, scarcely glaucous, stem 1°-2° high. 
Bulb large, coated; leaves 3’’-8/’ wide, shorter 
than the stem, strongly conduplicate, the upper 
very short; inflorescence racemose or paniculate 
bracts membranous, scarious, shorter than the 
slender pedicels; flowers mostly perfect, about 6’’ 
broad; perianth-segments oval or ovate, obtuse, 
free from the ovary, thin, short-clawed, bearing a 
roundish spot-like gland; capsule 4/’-6’’ long. 
On prairies, Kansas and Colorado to Texas. May-— 
June. 
4. Zygadenus venenosus S. Wats. Poi- 
sonous Zygadenus. (Fig. 979.) 
Zygadenus venenosus S. Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 14: 
279. 1879. 
Pale green, stem slender, 6/—2° tall, from a small 
coated bulb. Leaves conduplicate, roughish, 2’”— 
3/’ wide, shorter than the stem, the upper small 
and distant; inflorescence a simple or somewhat 
branched raceme, 2/—4/ long in flower, elongating 
in fruit, the slender pedicels longer than the scar- 
ious lanceolate bracts; flowers yellow or yellowish, 
polygamous, about 4’ wide; perianth-segments 
ovate or elliptic, obtuse or acutish, short-clawed, 
free from the ovary, bearing a roundish gland 
with an irregnlar margin; fruiting pedicels erect; 
capsule longer than the perianth. 
South Dakota and Montana to British Columbia, 
south to Nebraska, Utah and California, May-June. 
