TOFIRLDIA MELA NTH ACE.E 665 



ABAMA 



scarious more or less united bractlets on the pedicel. Perianth of 

 6 distinct 3-nerved persistent segments. Stamens 6, equalling 

 the segments and inserted at their bases: filaments narrowly 

 subulate: anthers round-cordate, attached by the base, 2-celled, 

 laterally dehiscent. Ovary sessile, 3-lobed and 3-celled, with 

 several ovule? attached to the inner angle in each cell. Styles 

 short, distinct, with small terminal stigmas. Capsule membran- 

 aceous or rigid, beaked by the 3 persistent styles, septicidally 

 dehiscent. Seeds several to many, with thin membranous testa, 

 often tailed. 



T. glntinosa Pers. Syn. i, 399. Stem viscid-pubescent with black 

 glands, 6-20 inches hii>h, bearing 2-4 leaves near the base: radical leaves 

 tufted, 3-7 inches long, 1-8 lines wide : raceme oblong, the upper flowers 

 first appearing : pedicels commonly clustered in S's, ascending viscid- 

 pubescent, becoming 2-6 lines long in fruit : involucral bracts minute, 

 united nearly or quite to their apices, borne just below the flower : segments 

 of the perianth oblong, mostly obtuse, about 2 lines long, membranous: 

 capsule oblong, about 3 lines high, 3-valved : seeds tailed at both ends. In 

 mountain marshes, Oregon to Alaska and across the Continent. 



T. intermedia R} r db. Bull. Torr. Bot, Club, xxvii, 528, Stem slen- 

 der, about a foot high, viscid-pubescent with black glands above, leafy 

 below: leaves 3-10 inches long, %-3 lines wide: raceme dense, 6-12 lines 

 long: bracts broad ovate: pedicels usually 3 together, a line or less long: 

 involucral bracts 3, broadly triangular, united for % their length: segments 

 of the perianth oblong, about a line long, acute, bright white, drying yel- 

 lowish : capsule ovoid, about 3 lines long : seeds appendaged. In mountain 

 marshes, Oregon to Alaska. 



T. occidental is Watson Prpc. Am. Acad. xiv, 283. Stem stout, 1-3 

 feet high, glandular above, sparingly leafy below: leaves 2-12 inches long, 

 numerous: raceme 1-2 inches long, dense: pedicels 2-3 together, 2-3 lines 

 long, viscid below the involucral bracts which are united to the middle : 

 segments of the perianth oblong, about 3 lines long: capsule obovate, 3-4 

 lines long, long-beaked : seeds angular- ovate, with loose white spongy testa 

 and a slender tail at the outer end nearly as long as the body. In marshes, 

 northern California to the Cascade Mountains in Washington. 



5 ABAMA. Adans. Fam. PL ii, 47. (1763.) 

 NARTHECIUM Juss. Gen. 47. (1789.") 



Perennial herbs with creeping or horizontal rootstocks, fibrous 

 roots, erect simple stems, linear grass-like leaves and small per- 

 fect flowers in terminal bracted racemes, the pedicels bracteolate 

 near the middle. Perianth of 6 distinct persistent segments. 

 Stamens 6, hypogynous, distinct: filaments subulate, pubescent : 

 anthers linear, attached by the base, introrse. Ovary sessile, 

 linear- oblong, 3-celled, many-ovuled, attenuate upward to the 

 small slightly lobed stigma. Capsule thin-chartaceous, loculicid- 

 ally 3-valved.. Seeds numerous ascending from near the base, 

 small and linear, with thin transparent testa, and a long bristle- 

 like tail at each end. 



A. Californica Heller. Narthecium Californicum Baker. Rootstocks 

 slender, with scarious scales at the nodes : stems slender, densely tufted, 

 10-20 inches high : radical leaves 5-6 inches long, 1-2 lines wide, cauline 



