498 MAYACACE^E. (MAYACA FAMILY.) 



crowded, short-stalked, hooded, narrowed at the base ; sterile peduncle included; 

 petals nearly alike, the odd one smaller; seeds transversely oblong. (C. hirtella, 

 Vahl. C. longifolia, Michx.) Shady swamps, Florida, and northward. Aug. 

 and Sept. U Stem 1 - 1 high. 



2. TRADESCANTIA, L. SPIDERWORT. 



Mowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals similar, ovate, fugacious. Sta- 

 mens all fertile, the filaments hairy: anthers kidney-shaped. Ovary 3-celled, 

 with two ovules in each cell. Capsule 2 - 3-celled, the cells 1 - 2-seeded. 

 Perennial herbs, with narrow keeled leaves, both the floral ones and those of 

 the stem. Flowers in umbel-like clusters, axillary and terminal, expanding in 

 the morning. Fruiting pedicels recurved. 



1. T. Virginica, L. Smooth, or villous with glandless huirs ; leaves 

 linear, broadest at the base, mostly purple-veined ; clusters axillary and termi- 

 nal, sessile, many-flowered ; flowers closely packed in 2 rows in the bud, each 

 with an ovate scarious bract at the base ; petals blue, like the style and densely 

 bearded filaments, twice as long as the lanceolate-ovate sepals. Dry sandy soil, 

 Florida, and northward. March -May. Stems -2 high. Flowers 1' in 

 diameter. 



2. T. pilosa, Lehm. Stem often branched, and, like the sheaths, villous 

 or nearly smooth ; leaves oblong, narrowed at the base, pubescent on both sides ; 

 clusters axillary and terminal, sessile, dense, many-flowered ; the pedicels and 

 oblong sepals villous with glandular hairs ; seeds transversely oblong, pitted on 

 the back; petals blue. Light soil in the tipper districts. May -July. Stem 

 1 - 1 high Leaves 1 ' - 1' wide. Flowers \> in diameter. 



3. T. rosea, Vent. Stem simple, slender, smooth ; leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 fringed on the margins; clusters solitary or by pairs, on long (3' -6') terminal 

 peduncles, few-flowered ; petals bright rose-color, three times as long as the 

 ovate-lanceolate sepals. Light fertile soil, Georgia to North Carolina. June - 

 Aug. Stem 6' - 8' high. Flowers ' in diameter. 



ORDER 156. MAYACACE^E. (MAYACA FAMILY.) 



Creeping moss-like marsh herbs, with very numerous narrow and pel- 

 lucid leaves, and solitary axillary flowers. Represented only by 



1. MAYACA, Aublet. 



Flowers regular, perfect. Sepals 3, lanceolate, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 

 3, obovate, deciduous or withering-persistent. Stamens 3, free, inserted on the' 

 base of the sepals, persistent; anthers erect, spoon-shaped, imperfectly 2-celled, 

 emarginate at the apex, introrse. Ovary 1 -celled. Ovules few, orthotropous, 

 fixed to three parietal placentae. Style single, terminal, persistent : stigma mi- 

 nutely 3-lobed. Capsule rugose, 3-valved ; the valves bearing the placentae in 



