486 COMMELYNACE.fi. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.) 



1. C. electa, L. Stem erect, rather stout (2° -4° high); leaves largo 

 (5 - 7' long, l'-2' wide), oblong-lanceolate, the upper surface and margins very 

 rough backwards, sheaths fringed with rusty bristles ; sputhes crowded and nearly 

 sessile, hooded, top-shaped in fruit ; odd petal shaped like the others but shorter, 

 round-ovate, raised on a claw; pod 3-celled. u. (C. Virginica, ed. 1, &c.) 

 — A hairy form apparently is C. hirtclla, Vahl. — Alluvial and shaded river- 

 banks, Penn. to Illinois and southward. — Our largest species, and the only one 

 with a top-shaped spathe. 



2. C. VirgsERica, L. Stems slender, erect, or reclined and rooting to- 

 wards the base ; leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate ; spathes mostl) solitary 

 or scattered, peduncled, conduplicate, round-heart-shaped when expanded, pointed, 

 in fruit somewhat hood-like, and with a short top-shaped base ; odd petal usu- 

 ally inconspicuous and nearly sessile; pod 2-celled. y. (C. Virginica, L., as 

 to syn. Pl.uk., which gave the name : Linnams's detailed description apparently 

 pertains to No. 1, which however must bear the name which lie took from Dil- 

 lenius, the authority for the species. C. angustifolia, Miclix. <j- ed. 1.) — Damp 

 rich woods and banks, S. New York to Michigan, Illinois, and southward. 



3. C agraiia, Kunth. Stems creeping, glabrous; leaves ovate-oblong or 

 lance-oblong, obtuse, small (1'- 2' long); spathes heart-ovate when expanded, pe- 

 duncled, conduplicate, the base not contracted in fruit, 3 - 4-flowcred ; the odd petal 

 round-ovate, nearly sessile. y. (C. Cajennensis, Rich.) — Alluvial banks, Illi- 

 nois and southward. — The smallest-leaved and smallest-flowered species. 



2. TRADESCANTIA, L. Spideewort. 



Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all alike, ovate, sessile. Sta- 

 mens all fertile: filaments bearded. Pod 2 -3-celled, the cells 1-2-seedcd. — 

 Perennials. Stems mucilaginous, mostly upright, nearly simple, leafy. Leaves 

 keeled. Flowers ephemeral, in umbelled clusters, axillary and terminal ; the 

 floral leaves nearly like the others. (Named for the elder Tradescant, gardener 

 to Charles the First.) 



* Umbels sessile, clustered, usually involucrate by 2 leaves. 



1. T. VirgfiBiica, L. (Common Spideewort.) Laves lanceolate-linear, 

 elongated, tapering from the sheathing base to the point, ciiiate, more or less 

 open ; umbels terminal, many-flowered. — Moist woods, from W. New York to 

 Wisconsin, and southward: commonly cultivated. May -Aug. — Plant either 

 smooth or hairy ; the large flowers blue, in gardens often purplish or white. 



2. r JT. piilosa, Lehm. Leaves broadly lanceolate from a narrowed base, 

 pointed, downy-hairy both sides, minutely ciiiate ; umbels many-flowered, in 

 very dense terminal and axillary clusters ; pedicels and calyx glandular-hairy. 

 (T. flexuosa, Raf.) — Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and southward. June-Sept. — 

 Stem stout, smooth below, 2° -3° high, often branched, zigzag above, with an at 

 length close cluster of small (§' broad) lilac-blue flowers in all the upper axils. 



# # Umbels long-peduncled, naked. 



3. T. rosea, Vent. Small, slender (6' -10' high), smooth; leaves linear, 

 grass-like, ciiiate at the base; umbel simple, or sometimes a pair; flowers (£' 

 wile) rose-color. — Sandy woods, Penn. (?) to Kentucky, and southward. 



