?28 Order 153.— XYRIDACE^. 



3. MAYAXA Aublet. Flowers regular ; sepals 3, green, lanceolate ; 

 petals 3, obovate, colored ; stamens 3, opposite the sepals, persistent ; 

 ovary 1-eelled, style filiform, stigma simple ; capsule 3-valved, seeds 

 several, attached to the middle of the valves. — Moss-like aquatics, glab- 

 rous, creeping, branched, densely clothed with narrowly linear lvs. 

 Ped. axillary, solitary, 1 -flowered. 

 M. Michauxii Schott. & Endl. Ped. longer than the lvs., reflesed in fruit ; caps. 



9 to 12-seeded; petals white. — In shallow waters, Va. to Ga. (Feay, Pond) and 



Fla. (Mettauer). Sts. several inches long, somewhat resembling Sphagnum. Lvs. 



numerous and minute, bifid, 2 to 3'' long, psd. thrice longer. Sep. near 3" long. 



Seeds globular, white. JL (Syena fluviatilis Ph.) 



Order CLIII. XYRIDACE^E. Xyrids. 



Herbs sedge-like, with.equitant leaves and ascapo bearing a head of flowers. Pe- 

 rianth 6-parted, in 2 series, sepals 3, gltunaceous, petals 3, unguiculate. Stamens 3, 

 with extrorse anthers, and inserted on the claw of the petals. Capsule 3-valved, 

 1-celled, with parietal placentas, or 3-celled. Seeds numerous, albuminous, ortho- 

 tropous, embryo at the apex. 



Genera 5, species 70, natives of tropical Asia, Africa and America, a few species of XyrU 

 extending into the United States. Of no important use. 



XY V RIS, L. Yellow-eyed Grass. (Gr. tjvpog, acute-pointed; in 

 allusion to the form of the leaves.) Heads of flowers ovoid-cylindric ; 

 sepals unequal, the 2 lateral glume-like, keeled, persistent, the odd one 

 membranous, involving the corolla in bud and deciduous; petals equal 

 ovate, crenate, with narrow claws as long as the sepals; capsule 1- 

 celled, with parietal placenta). — Lvs. linear, rigid, radical, sheathing the 

 base of the scape. Fls. in a terminal, dense head, with cartilaginous 

 bracts (scales) ; petals yellow. 



* Leaves very short (S to 30"). Sepals fringeless, tnftless. Small and delicate. South No. 1 



* Leaves elongated one-third to three-fourths the length of the scape, (a) 



a Sepals with a wingless, i'ringeless keel, rarely crested. Plant lmllmus at base ..No. 4 



a Sepals with a winged, fringed keel and crested apex, — short as the scale Nus. 3, 4 



— twice longer than the scale. . .No. 5 



1 X. brevifolia Mx. (nee Ell.) Lvs. linear, subulate, falcate, acute, distych- 

 ously imbricated, 3 to 5 times shorter than tho filiform, angular scape ; head ova!, 

 few-flowered, bracts rounded at apex; sep. acute, lanceolate, the keel not winged, 

 merely scabrous. — Springy places, Car. to Fla. Our smallest species. Scape 4 to 

 8' high. Lvs. 8 to 30" long, about 1" wide. Head not larger than a pepper- 

 corn. Apr., May. 



2 X. bulbdsa Kunth. Bulbous; lvs. narrow-linear, obtusish, half as long as 

 the. angular, sulcate stem, both twisted ; head globular ovoid, bracts roundish- 

 ovate, very obtuse ; sep. oblong-lanceolate, minutely bearded on tho sharp keel 

 and tufted at apex, a little shorter than the bract. — Bogs, N. Eng. to Ga., "W. to 

 Ind. Scape slender, 9 to 30' high, lvs. 5 to 15'. Head about 5" long, bracts closely 



imbricate, concave. Jn. — Sept. (X. Jupicai Mx. X. Indica Ph. X. torta Sra.) 

 d. irixoit. Dwarfish (3 to 8' high), slender; lvs. thrico shorter, scarcely twisted ; 

 sep. with an evident tuft at apex. — S. E. Ga. (Miss Keen.) 



3 X. Caroliniana "Walt. Lvs. rigid, narrowly linear, a third or more shorter 

 than the ilexuous, rigid, slightly 2-edged scape; head elliptical, yellowish brown; 

 sep. narrow, scarcely longer than the oval scales, conspicuously fringed on tho 

 keel above the middle and crested at the obtuse apex. — Sandy swamps, N. Y. to 

 Fla. Sts. 1 to 2f high, more or less twisted. Lvs. 6 to 18' long, 1 to 2" or the 

 outer :'." wide. Head 6 to 7" long. Petals rather large. JL, Aug. (X. flex- 

 uosa Ell. noc Muhl.) . 



4 X ambigua Kunth ? Los. gladiats-linear, plain, 2 to 3 limes shorter than 

 scapes; scapes (often clustered) distinctly 2-cdged, tall; head olliplic-ovoid, large, 



