IRIDACE^E. (IRIS FAMILY.) 4< 3 



6-angled ovary ; stigmas much longer than the anthers, nearly as long as the 

 interior perianth, the large lips cut-toothed ; capsule oblong-cylindrical, 6-angled. 

 Swamps, Florida to South Carolina, near the coast. April. Stem 2 - 3 

 high. Lowest leaves 2 - 3 long. Flowers 4' long. 



3. I. cuprea, Pursh. Stem simple, furrowed and 1-angled below; leaves 

 linear-sword-shaped ; flowers axillary and terminal, single or by pairs, crestless, 

 dull yellow ; tube of the perianth somewhat inflated, as long as the 6-angled 

 ovary ; stigmas scarcely longer than the anthers, about half as long as the 

 petals, the lips nearly entire ; capsule tumid, 6-angled. Swamps in the lower 

 districts of Georgia, Elliott, and westward. April and May. Stem 3 high. 

 Leaves 2 long. Flowers 2' long. 



4. I. tripetala, Walt. Stem terete, simple, or with peduncle-like branches ; 

 leaves rather short, sword-shaped, glaucous ; flowers terminal, solitary, crestless, 

 blue, variegated with yellow and purple ; inner divisions of the perianth very 

 short, wedge-shaped, abruptly pointed ; stigmas 2-toothed at the base, and with 

 toothed lips ; ovary 3-angled, longer than the short terete tube of the perianth ; 

 capsule oval, 3-angled. Pine-ban-en swamps, Florida to North Carolina. ' June 

 and July. Stem l-2 high. Leaves 1 long. Flowers 2' -3' long, some- 

 times by pairs. Limb of the sepals roundish. 



5. I. Virginica, L Stem slender, simple ; leaves elongated, grass-like ; 

 flowers 2-6, terminal, on a long and slender peduncle, crestless, blue and white ; 

 ovary 3-angled, 2-furrowed on the sides, much longer than the very short tube 

 of the perianth ; capsule 3-angled, acute at each end. Swamps, North Caro- 

 lina, Tennessee, and northward. June. Stem and lower leaves 2 long. 

 Flowers l' long. 



* * Stems low, with sheath-like leaves : divisions of the perianth nearly equal. 



6. I. verna, L. Stem very short, concealed by the short spathe-like leaves, 

 1-flowered ; proper leaves linear-sword-shaped, glaucous ; perianth pale blue, 

 crestless, the divisions about as long as the filiform partly concealed tube ; 

 capsule 3-angled. Pine barrens of the middle districts, mostly in dry soil, 

 Alabama to North Carolina. April Leaves 5' - 8' long. Limb of the peri- 

 anth 1' long. 



7. I. cristata, Ait. Stem l-3-flowered; leaves lanceolate (3'- 5' long); 

 outer divisions of the perianth crested, much shorter than the filiform tube ; 

 capsule acutely 3-angled ; otherwise like the preceding. Mountains of North 

 Carolina. May. 



2. SISYRINCHIUM, L BLUE-EYED GRASS. 



Perianth corolla-like, 6-parted, the divisions nearly equal, spreading. Stamens 

 3, monadelphous : anthers sagittate Style short : stigmas 3, simple, filiform 

 and involute Capsule and seeds roundish. Grass-like herbs, with fibrous 

 roots, and scape-like 2-edged stems Flowers small, in an umbellate cluster, 

 successively developed from a rigid 2-leaved spathe. 

 40* 



