COMMELYNACE^E. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.) 497 



1 . S. graminea, Willd. Stem submerged, forking, leaves thin, pellucid ; 

 flowers expanding at the surface of the water ; spathe convolute ; lobes of the 

 perianth linear, spreading. (Leptanthus, Michx. ) In flowing water, North Caro- 

 lina, and northward. JuIyandAug. Stems 1- 2 long. Leaves 3' -6' long. 

 Tube of the perianth 1^' long. 



ORDER 155. COMMELYNACEvE. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.) 



Herbs, with chiefly fibrous roots, jointed and leafy stems, and perfect 

 or somewhat polygamous often irregular flowers. Perianth of three her- 

 baceous or colored persistent sepals, and three fugacious petals. Stamens 

 6, hypogynous, perfect, or a part of them sterile : anthers 2-celled, often 

 of two forms. Styles single : stigma entire. Ovary free from the peri- 

 anth, 2-3-celled, with 1- several orthotropous ovules in each cell. Cap- 

 sule loculicidally 2-3-valved, 1 - several-seeded. Embryo pulley-shaped, 

 placed in a cavity of the albumen opposite the hilum. Plants somewhat 

 succulent. Stems often branching. Sheaths of the leaves entire or open. 



1. COMMELYNA, Dill. DAY-FLOWER. 



Flowers irregular. Sepals mostly colored. Petals fugacious, two of them 

 kidney-shaped and long-clawed, the other smaller. Stamens unequal, three of 

 them fertile, the others with 4-lobed sterile anthers : filaments beardless. Cap- 

 sule 1 - 3-celled, the cells 1 - 2-seeded, or one of them frequently empty. Stems 

 branching. Leaves flat, oblong, or lanceolate, on sheathing petioles ; the floral 

 ones cordate and spathe-like, folded, and enclosing the few-flowered peduncle. 

 Flowers blue. 



1. C. communis, L. ? Stem smooth, filiform, and creeping; leaves short 

 (l'-2' long), ovate-lanceolate, obtuse; sheaths fringed at the throat; spathes 

 nearly crescent-shaped, obtuse at the base, lateral and terminal ; peduncles by 

 pairs ; one of them bearing 3-4 small fertile flowers, which are included in the 

 spathe ; the other long-exserted, filiform, 1 -flowered ; odd petal lanceolate, sessile; 

 seeds reticulated Low grounds, Georgia to North Carolina. July - Sept. ? 

 Stem l-2 long. 



2 C. Virginica, L. Pubescent; stem erect; sheaths hairy; leaves (4'- 

 6' long) oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, thin, rough above ; spathe (when opened) 

 round ovate, contracted at the base ; sterile peduncle included ; petals large, the 

 odd one lanceolate ; capsule 2 - 3-seeded. (C. erecta, Ell.) Varies (C. angus- 

 tifolia, Michx.) with the stems smooth, ascending; leaves narrowly lanceolate, 

 rather rigid, and, like the sheath, nearly smooth ; flowers smaller, seeds pulveru- 

 lent. Light or sandy soil, Florida, and northward. May - Sept. U Stem 

 10 _ 20 high The spathes contain a viscid secretion until the seeds mature. 



3. C. erecta, L. Stem stout, erect; leaves (3' -5' long) lanceolate or ob- 

 long, acute, very rough above, the sheaths fringed with brown hairs ; spatheg 

 42* 



