414 



THE LILIALES 



Finally the upper set of hairs wither and he is free to leave the 

 spathe and repeat his work in another inflorescence. 



133. Liliales, the Lily Order. The members of this order 

 comprise nearly 5,000 species that are widely distributed and 

 extensively cultivated for their showy flowers. We have now 

 reached a point in the evolution of the flower where it has become 

 perfect and the protective spathe of preceding orders is replaced 

 by a well-developed perianth. The floral axis also becomes short- 



FIG. 287. The fawn lily, Erythronium americanum: A, habit of the plant; 

 B, the bulb, showing the origin of the stem and leaves shown in A; r, run- 

 ners that penetrate the soil forming new bulbs at their tips. C, pistil of 

 three carpels, at the right the fruit, a capsule, opening to scatter the seeds. 



ened and we pass from the spiral series of flowers with a vari- 

 able number of organs to the cyclic flowers with a definite 

 number of organs arranged in whorls. In the lily order there 

 are five whorls of organs of three members each, the stamens 

 being arranged in two whorls. Note also that this crowding 

 usually results in a compound pistil of three carpels (Fig. 287, 

 C). These plants are largely perennial, with underground 

 stems in the form of bulbs or rhizomes. This feature adapts 



