LILY FAMILY. 425 
2. Muscari racemosum (JL.) Mill. 
Starch Grape-Hyacinth. 
(Fig. 1022.) 
Hyacinthus racemosus I,. Sp. Pl. 318. 1753. 
Muscari racemosum Mill. Gard. Dict. Ed. 8, no. 2. 
1768. 
Similar to the preceding species. Leaves 1//— 
2’’ wide, recurved or spreading, channelled 
above; raceme oblong or ovoid, many-flowered, 
dense, 1/-214’ long; pedicels shorter than the 
starchy-scented flowers or sometimes equalling 
them, slender, much longer than the bracts; 
perianth oblong, urn-shaped, constricted at the 
throat, 2’’-3’’ long, with 6 deltoid recurved 
white teeth; capsule-valves suborbicular, retuse. 
Escaped from gardens, southern New York to 
Pennsylvania and Maryland. Native of southern 
Europe. April-May. 
\ 
13. ALETRIS L. Spe Pistoues m7 53: 
Scapose perennial bitter fibrous-rooted herbs, with basal spreading lanceolate leaves, and 
small white or yellow bracted perfect flowers in a terminal spike-like raceme. Perianth ob- 
long or campanulate, roughened without, 6-lobed, its lower part adnate to the ovary. 
Stamens 6, inserted on the perianth at the bases of the lobes, included; filaments short; an- 
thers introrse. Ovary 3-celled; ovules numerous, anatropous; style subulate, or short, 3- 
cleft above; stigmas minutely 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, enclosed by the persistent perianth, 
3-celled, many-seeded, loculicidal. Seeds oblong, ribbed. Embryo small. Endosperm 
fleshy. [Greek, signifying to grind corn, apparently in allusion to the rough, mealy 
flowers. | - 
About 8 species, natives of eastern North America and eastern Asia. 
Penanth white, oblong. 1. A. farinosa. 
Perianth yellow, bell-shaped. 2. A. aurea. 
1. Aletris farinosa I. Star-grass. Colic-root. (Fig. 1023.) 
” 
Aletris farinosa I,. Sp. Pl. 319. 1753. 
Roots numerous, tough, scape 114°-3° tall, 
slender, terete, striate, bearing several or nu- 
merous small distant bract-like leaves. Basal 
leaves several, lanceolate or linear-lanceo- 
late, acuminate at the apex, narrowed to the 
base, spreading, pale yellowish green, 2/—6/ 
long, 3/’-10’’ wide; raceme 4’-12’ long in 
flower, or longer in fruit, dense, erect, pedi- 
cels 1’’ long or less; bracts subulate, longer 
than the pedicels sometimes 2 to each flower; 
perianth tubular-oblong, white, or the oblong 
lobes yellowish, 3/’-4’/ long, about 114// 
thick; style subulate; capsule ovoid, about 
2’’ long, loculicidal above, each of its 3 
valves tipped with a subulate portion of the 
style. 
In dry, mostly sandy soil, Maine to Ontario 
and Minnesota, south to Florida and Tenneseee. 
Ascends to 3500 ft. in Virginia. Yellow flowered 
forms of this or a distinct species occur in the 
Southern States. May-July. 
