368 MO.NOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



Flowers white, dioecious and polygamous, in a terminal spiked 

 raceme. It is doubtful whether it belongs to this genus. 



Unicorn Plant. 



5. VERATRUM. linn. 



Perianth 6-parted, spreading ; segments sessile and with- 

 out glands. Stamens 6, inserted upon the receptacle. Ova- 

 ries united at base, sometimes abortive. Styles 3, short. 

 Capsule oblong, 2-valved, many-seeded. Seefl with a mem- 

 branaceous margin. Hexandria. Trigynia. 



V. viridt Ait. : racemes paniculate ; bracts of the branches oblong- 

 lanceolate; partial ones longer than the subpubescent peduncles; leaves 

 broad-ovate, plaited lengthwise. V. album Mich. 



HAB. Meadows and swamps. Can. to Car. June, July. 1. 

 ^ti in 3 5 feet high. Leaves large, sheathing the stem at base, 

 Flowers greenish, in a large terminal panicle. Medicinal and 

 poisonous. Poke Root. American Hellebore. 



ORDER CXXV. PONTEDERE^:. Kwith. Lind. 



Perianth tubular, coloured, 6-parted, more or less irregu- 

 lar ; aestivation circinate. Stamens 3 or 6, unequal, perigy- 

 nous. Ovary free, or sometimes coherent at base, 3- (or 

 rarely 1-) celled, 3-valved, with loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds 

 indefinite, attached to a central axis ; hilum small ; embryo 

 straight, in the axis of somewhat mealy albumcu. 



Aquatic or marsh plants. Leaves sheathing at the base, 

 with parallel veins. 



1. PONTEDERIA. Linn. 



Perianth inferior, 6-parted, bilabiate ; under side of the 

 tube perforated with 3 longitudinal foramina, the lower part 

 persistent, calicine. Stamens 6, unequally inserted, 3 of them 

 upon the summit. Utricle muricate, 1-seeded. 



Hexandria. Monogynia. 



1. P. cordata Linn. : leaves subradical, oblong-cordate ; flowers in 

 crowded spikes ; segments of the perianth oblong. 



HAB. Ponds. Can. to Car. Aug. U- Scape 12 feet long. 

 Flowers aggregated by twos and threes, sessile, bright blue. 



Pickerel Weed. 



2. P. angustifolia Pursh : leaves elongated-triangular, truncate and 

 subcordate at the base ; segments of the perianth linear-lanceolate. 

 P. cord&ta var. angust\folia Torr. P. mucronata Rqf. 



HAB. High mountain lakes. N. Y. to Car. Pursh. July. 2^. 



