;. (mis FAMILY.) 490 



brous, 1 -2-flowered, longer than the stem; style short; stamens included. 

 East Florida, and westward. 



* * * Stems filiform, pendent: flowers solitary, (jreen. 



10. T. usneoides, L. (LONG Moss.) Scurfy and hoary ; stems (l-2 

 king) branching, spiral ; leaves 2-ranked, linear-awl shaped, recurved ; flowers 

 small ; peduncles lateral, shorter than the leaves, small ; sepals longer than the 

 bracts, half as long as the linear recurved green petals. Humid situations 

 in the lower districts, Florida to North Carolina, and westward. June - 

 Sept. 



2. CATOPSIS, Griseb. 



Mostly like Tillandsia, but the stigmas nearly sessile, the stipe incurved, 

 and dissolved into flexuous hairs from the base, the pappus spreading from 

 the hilum, and the pendulous seed ending in a blunt coma. 



1. C. nutans, Griseb. Not scurfy ; stem usually nodding (2 -3 long) ; 

 leaves thin, smooth, ovate-lanceolate, attenuate, pale (10'- 15' long) ; calyx 

 ovate, sessile on the flexuous branches of the simple panicle, longer than the 

 ovate bracts ; sepals oblong-oval, obtuse, enclosing the white spatulate petals ; 

 capsule ovate. Miami, South Florida (Gurber), mostly on low trees. 



ORDER 149. IRIDACE^E. (Tuts FAMILY.) 



Herbs, with linear or sword-shaped equitant nerved leaves, and 

 fugacious often showy flowers from a 2-leaved spathe. Perianth 

 6-parted, the divisions spreading and equal, or the inner ones smaller, 

 convolute in the bud. Stamens 3, distinct or united : anthers ex- 

 trorse. Ovary adnate to the tube of the perianth, 3-celled ; the 

 numerous anatropous ovules fixed to the central placentae. Style 

 single : stigmas 3. Capsule loculicidally 3-valved. Embryo in the 

 axis of fleshy albumen. 



Synopsis. 



1. IRIS. Stigmas petal-like, covering the stamens : capsule angular. 



2. SISYRINCHIUM. Stigmas filiform : capsule globular : stem flat. 



3. NEMASTY11S. Stigmas filiform, 2-parted : stem terete. 



1. IRIS, L. BLUE FLAG, FLOWER-DE-LDCE. 



Perianth corolla-like, 6-parted ; the exterior divisions recurved, and often 

 crested or bearded within, the interior mostly smaller and erect. Stamens 3, 

 opposite the outer divisions of the perianth, concealed by the dilated petal- 

 like 2-lipped spreading stigmas. Style 3-angled. Capsule 3-6-angled. 

 Seed mimerous, flattened, packed in 1 - 2 rows in the cells. Perennial herbs, 

 with creeping or tuberous rootstocks, simple or branched stems, linear or 

 sword-shaped leaves, and showy flowers from a scarious spathe. 

 * Stems tall, leafy: divisions of the perianth unequal. 



1. I. versicolOF, L. Stem nearly terete, simple or branched ; leaves 

 sword-shaped ; flowers terminal, single or spiked, crestless ; perianth pale blue, 



