GENUS 15. 



LILY FAMILY. 



513 



3. Yucca filamentosa L. Adam's Needle. Silk- 

 or Bear-grass. Fig. 1279. 



Yucca filamentosa L. Sp. PL 319. 1753. 



Caudex very short, or sometimes i high. Leaves 

 lanceolate, narrowed above the broad base, acuminate 

 and sharp-pointed, flat, roughish, i-2i long, g"-2 f 

 wide; scape 2-io high; panicle large, its branches 

 divergent or ascending, the lower often i long or 

 more; flowers numerous; perianth-segments ii'-2^' 

 long, ovate ; stigmas slender, but shorter than the ovary ; 

 pedicels rarely more than i' long; capsule oblong, ii'-2' 

 long, about 10" thick. 



In sandy soil, Maryland to Florida, Tennessee and Louisi- 

 ana. Much cultivated for ornament. Escaped from 

 gardens in southern Pennsylvania. Bear's-thread, thread- 

 and-needle. Eve's-darning-needle. May-July. 



Family 23. CONVALLARIACEAE Link. Handb. i : 184. 1829. 



LILY-OF-THE- VALLEY FAMILY. 



Scapose or leafy-stemmed herbs, with simple or branched rootstocks, never 

 with bulbs or corms. Flowers solitary, racemose, panicled or umbelled, regular 

 and perfect. Leaves broad, parallel-veined and sometimes with cross-veinlets, 

 alternate, verticillate or basal, or in Asparagus and its allies reduced to scales 

 bearing filiform or flattened branchlets in their axils. Perianth inferior, 4-6- 

 parted with separate segments, or oblong, cylindric or urn-shaped and 6-lobed 

 or 6-toothed. Stamens 6, rarely 4, hypogynous or borne on the perianth ; anthers 

 introrsely, extrorsely or laterally dehiscent. Ovary 2-3-celled, superior ; ovules 

 anatropous or amphitropous ; style slender or short ; stigma mostly 3-lobed. Fruit 

 a fleshy berry, rarely a capsule. Seeds few or numerous. Embryo small. 



About 23 genera and 215 species, widely distributed. 



Leaves reduced to scales ; leaf-like bractlets filiform. I. Asparagus. 



Leaves broad ; stems simple or somewhat branched. 



Leaves basal ; flowers umbelled or solitary. 2. Clintonia. 



Leaves alternate (solitary in flowerless plants of no. 4). 

 Perianth-segments separate. 



Flowers racemed, umbelled, panicled or solitary, terminal. 

 Flowers racemed or panicled. 



Perianth-segments 6. 3. Vagnera. 



Perianth-segments 4. 4. Unifolium. 



Flowers umbelled or solitary. 



Fruit a berry. 5. Disporum. 



Fruit a capsule. 6. Uvularia. 



Flowers solitary or two together, axillary. 7. Streptopus. 



Perianth cylindric or oblong, 6-toothed. 8. Polygonatum. 



Leaves nearly basal ; flowers racemed ; perianth 6-toothed. 9- Convallana. 



i. ASPARAGUS L. Sp. PI. 313. 1753. 



Stem at first simple, fleshy, scaly, at length much branched; the branchlets filiform and 

 mostly clustered in the axils of the scales in the following species, flattened and linear, 

 lanceolate or ovate in some others. Flowers small, solitary, umbelled or racemed. Peri- 

 anth-segments alike, separate or slightly united at the base. Stamens inserted at the bases 

 of the perianth-segments; filaments mostly filiform; anthers ovate or oblong, introrse. 

 Ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules 2 in each cavity; style slender, short; stigmas 3, short, re- 

 curved. Berry globose. Seeds few, rounded. [Ancient Greek name.] 



About 100 species, natives of the Old World, the following being the generic type. 



33 



