AMARYLLIS FAMILY 
AMARYLLIDACEAE 
STAR GRASS 
Hypoxis hirsuta (L.) Coville 
The Amaryllis family contains a number of important 
decorative plants, of which the best known are Narcissus, 
Daffodil and Jonquil. The Century Plant is also a member 
of this family and likewise the Sisal Hemp 
from which twine and rope are made. 
Star Grass grows in dry or moist grasslands 
from Maine to western Ontario, south to 
Florida and Texas. It is peren- 
nial by a corm, from which 
arises a tuft of linear grasslike 
leaves, all basal and more or less 
hairy. 
The flowering stem, 2-6 
inches high and also hairy, 
comes from the midst of the 
basal leaves. The flowers are 
1-6 in an umbel. The perianth, 
attached above the ovary, is 
composed of 6 separate and 
similar parts which are bright 
yellow on. the inner or upper 
surface and greenish and some- 
what hairy on the outer. To the bases of the 
parts are attached the 6 stamens, somewhat un- 
equal in length. The style is a little shorter than 
the stamens and has 3 angles down which the stigmas extend. 
The capsule is oblong and thin walled, and the seeds are slightly 
angled and black. 
The Daffodil, Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus L., of Illinois is 
commonly found along field edges and roadsides, especially in the 
south. A leafless angled scape 6-12 inches high springs from the 
whitish or brownish bulb and bears a terminal, usually solitary 
flower. The 6 yellowish perianth segments are separate and to their 
bases is fixed the cylindrical yellowish crown, enclosing the 6 stamens 
and the pistil with a deeply inferior ovary. 
And sweet the brimming dew that overfills 
The golden chalices of all the trembling daffodils. 
The Old-fashioned Garden—Joun Russet Hayes 
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