46 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
acute, erect, shorter than the stem, bracts scarious. Flowers sessile, 
large and showy, blue, variegated with white and yellow, sometimes 
nearly all white, outer segments large, recurved, bearded, the inner 
narrower, erect, or arched inward. Introduced from Europe; com- 
mon in gardens and naturalized in many places.* 
3. I. fulva, Ker. YELLow Frac. Rootstock fleshy. Stem sim- 
ple or branched, grooved, l-angled below, bearing 2-3 leaves, 2-3 ft. 
high. Leaves linear, sword-shaped, with a bloom, shorter than the 
stem, bracts small. Pedicels short, flowers axillary and terminal, 
dull yellow or reddish-brown, variegated with blue and green, peri- 
anth segments not bearded. Style branches but little exceeding 
the stamens, ovary about as long as the inflated perianth tube. 
Capsule ovate, 6-angled. Swamps and wet places.* 
III. SISYRHINCHIUM, L. 
Small, grass-like perennials. Stems erect, flattened, or 
winged. Roots fibrous. Leaves linear or lanceolate. Flowers 
small, blue, quickly withering, in terminal 2-bracted umbels. 
Perianth corolla-lke, of 6 bristle-pointed segments, tube 
nearly or wholly lacking. Stamens 3, completely monadel- 
phous. Stigmas 3, thread-like. Fruit a nearly globular 
3-angled capsule. Species too difficult for the beginner. 
13. ORCHIDACEZ. Orcuis FAmILy. 
Perennial herbs with simple stems, often arising from bulbs 
or tubers. Leaves simple, usually alternate and entire. Flow- 
ers perfect, generally showy, often extraordinarily irregular. 
Perianth of 6 divisions, adnate to the 1-celled ovary. Stamens 
1 or 2, united with the pistil; pollen of comparatively few 
grains held together in masses by cobweb-like threads. Ovary 
1-celled, containing many (sometimes more than a million) 
very minute ovules. 
The family is a difficult one, and most of the genera are 
so rare that specimens should not be collected in large num- 
bers for class study. Two of the most familiar genera are 
Cypripedium, or lady’s slipper, and Spiranthes, or lady’s tresses. 
Many of the genera are tropical air-plants lke Part I, Fig. 13. 
