316 



ENDOGENOUS PLANTS 



nerved and somewhat plicate ; flowers few, or solitary, large and 

 showy. 



1. C. pubescens, Willd. Stem leafy, 1- to 3-flowered ; sepals 

 and petals longer than the lip, stained with purplish-brown; lip 

 pale yellow, convex and gibbous above ; abortive anther triangular. 

 PUBESCENT CYPRIPEDIUM. Noah's Ark. Mocasin-flower. 



Stem. 1 to 2 feet high, simple, often flexuose, pubescent. Leaves 3 to 6 inches 

 long, alternate, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, pubescent, sessile and sheathing. 

 Flower mostly solitary and terminal, with a foliaceous bract at base ; petals wary 

 and curled ; lip an inch to an inch and a half long, inflated and saccate. Capsule 

 oblong, tapering at each end. 

 Hob. Rich, moist woodlands : formerly frequent. Fl. May. Fr. Aug. 



2. C. acaiile, Alton. Scape naked, 1-flowered, 2-leaved at base ; 

 sepals and petals shorter than the lip, greenish, stained and spotted ; 

 lip purple, drooping, obovoid, with a fissure in front; abortive 

 anther rhomboid, acuminate. 



STEMLESS CYPRIPEDIUM. Lady's Slipper. 



Leaves 3 to 6 inches long, opposite, oval, mostly acute, at first rather erect, 

 finally spreading. Scape 6 to 12 inches high ; flower solitary and terminal, with a 

 foliaceous ovate-lanceolate bract at base. Lip \}/ 2 to 2 inches long. Capsule ellip- 

 tic-oblong, an inch and half in length. 

 Hob. Woods ; North Valley hills : not common. FL May. Fr. Aug. 



Obs. Both these remarkable plants are beginning to be rather 

 scarce, in this region. 



ORDER CVL AMARYLLIDACEAE. 



Herbs, with roots chiefly bulbous, and scape-bearing; leaves radical, flat and 

 linear ; flowers perfect, with a regular 6-parted perianth, not scurfy, nor woolly, 

 the tube adherent to the ovary ; stamens 6 ; anthers introrse ; style single ; stigmas 

 3 ; fruit a 3-celled loculicidal capsule ; seeds numerous ; embryo straight, in the 

 axis of fleshy albumen* 



This order comprises some curious, and beautifully flowering plants. The famous 

 Pulque, an intoxicating drink of the Mexicans, is the fermented juice of a species 

 of Agave. 



429. HYPOX V IS, L. 



[Gr. Hypo, beneath, and oxys, sharp; the capsule being pointed at base.] 

 Perianth persistent, spreading, the 3 outer lobes green externally. 

 Capsule crowned with the withered perianth-lobes, not opening by 

 valves. Seeds globular, laterally beaked. Stemless hairy perennials, 

 with grass-like leaves, and yellow Jtowers. 



1. H. Crecta, L* Leaves longer than the umbellately 3- or 4- 



fiowered scape. 



ERECT HYPOXIS. Star of Bethlehem. 



Soot a solid bulb, with many coarse fibres. Leaves 9 to 15 inches long, keeled, 

 tapering to a subulate point. Scape 4 to 10 inches high, slender; pedicels % au 

 inch to an inch in length, silky-villous, with subulate bracts at base. 

 Hob. Open, grassy woodlands : common. FL May. Fr. 



Obs. I think this plant rarely perfects its fruit. Common as it 

 is, and familiar as I have been with it, for more than half a 

 century, I have never observed a full-grown capsule. 



