310 



MONOCOTYLEDONS. 



EPIGYNOUS flowers: Amaryllidacese, Iridaceee, BromeliacesB (in part), Dios- 

 coreaceae. 



Order 1. Colchicacese. The flower (Fig. 304.4) is g, regular, 

 hypogynous, trimerous in all five whorls (6 stamens) ; anthers 

 usually extrorse. Gynceceum with 3 free styles (yl, D) ; fruit a 

 capsule with septicidal dehiscence (E) ; embryo very small (F). The 

 underground stem is generally a corm or rhizome, seldom a bulb. 



A. VERATREJ;. Veratrum ; perennial herbs, stem tall with 

 long internodes and broad, folded leaves ; the flowers andro- 

 moncecious, with free, widely opening perianth-leaves (Fig. 304 A}, 

 and globular anthers; inflorescence a panicle. Zygadenus, 

 Melanthium, Schcenocaulon, Uvularia, Tricyrtis. 



B. TOFIELDIEJ;. Narthecium and Tojieldia have leaves alter- 

 nate (arranged in two rows), sword-like and borne in rosettes ; 

 racemes or spikes. Narthecium forms an exception to the order by 

 having a simple style and fruit with loculicidal dehiscence ; 



FIG. 304. Veratrum : A flower; B stamen ; C transverse sect ion of ovary ; D gynreceum, 

 with one carpel bisected longitudinally, and the third removed ; E fruit after dehiscence ; 

 f longitudinal section of a seed. 



Tojieldia by the introrse anthers. In this they are related to the 

 Liliacese. Narthecium has poisonous properties, like many other 

 Colchicaceae. 



C. CoLCHiCE^:. Colchicum (Autumn Crocus) ; perennial herbs, 

 with a long, funnel-shaped, gamophyllous perianth, and introrse 

 anthers. The flowers of C. autumnale spring up immediately 

 from the underground stem, which is in reality a corm formed of 

 one internode. Colchicum autumnale flowers in autumn without leaves ; in 

 spring the radical foliage-leaves appear simultaneously with the fruit. The 

 flower is protogynous, and is pollinated by insects (humble-bees, etc.) which 

 seek the honey secreted by the free part of the stamen a little way down the 

 tube. The length of the tube protects the fruit, and not, as in other cases, the 

 nectary. Tiulbocodium and Merendera have unguiculate perianth leaves, free, 

 but closing together like a tube. 



175 species ; chiefly in North America and South Africa. Tofieldia is an 



