524 COMMELYNACE.E. (SPIDERWOKT FAMILY.) 



* Flowers peduncled: lobes of the perianth unequal : anthers of 2 forms . capsule 



imperfectly 3-celled : leaves oblong or reniform, lona-petioled. 



1. H. reniformis, R. & P. Leaves reniform; spathes 3 - 5-flo\vered ; 

 perianth white. North Carolina aud Tennessee. August. 



2. H. liniosa, Vahl. Leaves oblong ; spathes 1 -flowered; perianth blue. 

 Tennessee, and northward. August. 



* * Flowers sessile: lobes of the perianth nearly equal: anthers alike, sayittati- : 



capsule l-celled : aquatic: leaves linear, sessile. 



3. H. graminea, Vahl. Stem long (l- 3) and slender; spathe 1 -flow- 

 ered ; perianth yellow. (Schollera, Schreb.) Ponds and lakes, Florida, near 

 the coast, and northward. July - August. 



ORDER 157. COMMELYNACE^E. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.) 



Herbs, with chiefly fibrous roots, jointed and leafy stems, and perfect 

 or somewhat polygamous often irregular flowers. Perianth of three 

 herbaceous or colored persistent sepals, and three fugacious petals. 

 Stamens 6, hypogynous, perfect, or a part of them sterile : anthers 2- 

 celled, often of two forms. Styles single : stigma entire. Ovary free 

 from the perianth, 2 -3-celled, with 1- several orthotropous ovules in 

 each cell. Capsule loculicidally 2-3-valved, 1 - several-seeded. Em- 

 bryo pulley-shaped, placed in a cavity of the albumen opposite the hi- 

 lum. Plants somewhat succulent. Stems often branching. Sheaths 

 of the leaves entire or open. 



1. COMMELYNA, Dill. DAY-FLOWER. 



Flowers irregular. Sepals mostly colored. Petals fugacious, two of them 

 kidney-shaped and long-clawed, the other smaller. Stamens unequal, three 

 of them fertile, the others with 4-lobed sterile anthers: filaments beardless. 

 Capsule 1 -3-celled, the cells 1 -2-seeded, or one of thein frequently empty. 

 Stems branching. Leaves flat, oblong, or lanceolate, on sheathing petioles ; 

 the floral ones cordate and spathe-like, folded, and enclosing the few-flowered 

 peduncle. Flowers blue. 



1- C. nudiflora, L. Stem smooth, filiform, and creeping; leaves short 

 (!'- 2' long), ovate-lanceolate, obtuse; sheaths fringed at the throat ; spatlms 

 nearly crescent-shaped, obtuse at the base, lateral and terminal ; peduncles by 

 pairs; one of them bearing 3-4 small fertile flowers included in the spathe ; 

 the other long-exserted, filiform, 1-flowered; odd petal ovate, sessile; seeds 

 reticulated. Low grounds, Florida to North Carolina. July - Sept. ' 

 Stem l-2long. 



2. C. Virginica, L. Pubescent; stem erect; sheaths hairy; leaves 

 (4'- 6' long) oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, thin, rough above; spathe (when 

 opened) round ovate, contracted at the base ; sterile peduncle included ; petals 

 large, the odd one lanceolate , capsule 2-3-seeded. (C. erecta, Ell. } Varies 

 (C. angustifolia, Hfichx.) with the stems smooth, ascending; leaves narrowly 



