518 MELANTHACE.E. (COLCHICUM FAMILY.) 



the base, simple, leafy. Leaves dry, rigid, rough on the margins, very nar- 

 row, dilated at the base ; those of the stem very numerous and needle-shaped. 

 Flowers white, in a simple dense raceme. 



1. X. asphodeloides, Gray. Dry sandy soil, North Carolina, and 

 northward. May -June. Stem 3 -5 high. Radical leaves spreading, 

 1 or more long, very slender-pointed. Flowers 2" long. Stamens dilated 

 below. 



11. CHAM.ZELIRIUM, Willd. BLAZING STAR. 



Flowers dioecious. Leaves of the perianth liuear-spatulate, shorter than the 

 filiform filaments. Anthers 2-celled, roundish. Styles club-shaped : stigmas 

 decurrent. Capsule ovoid, 3-angled, loculicidally 3-valyed, many-seeded. 

 Seeds linear-oblong, winged at the ends. Stem simple, from a thick rhizoma, 

 leafv. Lowest leaves spatulate or obovate, the others linear or lanceolate. 

 Flowers small, white, in a simple spiked raceme. 



1 . C. Carolinianum, Willd. Low grounds. May - June. Stem 1- 

 2 high, furrowed. Radical leaves clustered, 2' - 4' long, spreading ; the up- 

 permost small and bract-like. Racemes 6'- 12' long, the sterile slender and 

 drooping at the summit ; the fertile rigid and erect. Perianth inconspicuous. 



12. PLEEA, Michx. 



Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth sessile, widely spreading, lanceo- 

 late, rigid. Stamens 9-12, shorter than the perianth: filaments slender: 

 anthers linear, introrse, 2-cleft at the base, versatile. Styles short, subulate : 

 stigmas simple. Capsule coriaceous, ovate, 3-lobed, many-seeded ; the cells 

 opening down the inner suture. Seeds oblong, bristle-pointed. Stems 

 smooth and slender, from clustered rootstocks. Leaves chiefly radical, very 

 narrow, 2-edged, equitant. Flowers few in a simple raceme, white. Bracts 

 spathe-like, clasping. 



1. P. tenuifolia, Michx. Pine barren swamps and bogs, Florida to 

 Nortli Carolina. Oct. Stem rush-like, 2 high. Radical leaves erect, rigid, 

 perennial, 6' - 9' long. Raceme rigid, 6 - 9-flowered, the erect pedicels enclosed 

 in the rigid clasping bracts. Flowers 1' wide, greenish without. 



13. TOFIELDIA, Hudson. 



Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth spreading, sessile, oblong or obo- 

 vate. Filaments subulate : anthers innate or introrse, 2-celled. Styles subu- 

 late : stigmas terminal. Capsule 3-angled, septicidally 3-partible, many-seeded. 

 Seeds oblong. Stems simple, scape-like, from creeping rootstocks. Leaves 

 linear, 2-edged, equitant. Flowers small, whitish, in spikes or racemes. Pedi- 

 cels commonly minutely 3-bracted under the flower. 



1. TOFIELDIA proper. Racemes simple, the flowers successively opening 

 from the base upward (centripetal) : anthers introrse : seeds without append- 

 ages. Stnooth herbs. 



1. T. glabra, Nutt. Stem leafy at the base, and sparingly above ; leaves 

 linear; racemes densely flowered; stamens slightly exserted; styles very 



