YELLOW-EYED GRASS FAMILY. 351 



two former by the full -developed petals, the latter by the smaller or abortive 



petal. ) Ours are branching perennials, or continued by rooting from the joints ; 



in alluvial or moist shady soil : fl. all summer. 



C. er^Cta. From Penn. S. & W. : stem erect, 2 -4 high; leaves lance- 

 oblong, 3' -7' long, the margins rough backwards, and sheaths fringed with 

 bristles ; spathes crowded, hooded, top-shaped in fruit ; odd petal like the others 

 but smaller. 



C. Virginica. From S. New York S. & W. : stems reclining and rooting 

 at base ; leaves oblong-lanceolate or narrower ; spathes scattered, conduplicate, 

 round-heart-shaped when laid open ; odd petal inconspicuous. 



2. TRADESClNTIA, SPIDERWORT. (Named for the gardener-bot- 

 anist Tradescant.) Leaves sheathed at the base. ^ 



# Wild species of moist or rich ivoods, one very common in gardens : with erect 

 stems, linear or lanceolate keeled leaves, the uppermost nearly like the others. 



- Umbels sessile at the end of the stem and branches between a pair of leaves, or later 

 also in the lower axils : flowering in summer. 



T. Virginica. Common wild from W. New York W. & S., and in gar- 

 dens : leaves lance-linear, tapering regularly from the base to the point, ciliate ; 

 umbels terminal ; flowers blue, in garden varieties purple or white. 



T. pilbsa. Chiefly W. : 2 or more high, with zigzag stem, more or less 

 pubescent leaves lanceolate from a narrowish base, very dense terminal and ax- 

 illary umbels of smaller and later purple-blue flowers, and hairy calyx and 

 pedicels. 



- -i- Umbels one or two on a naked peduncle. 



T. rbsea. Sandy woods chiefly S. & W. : slender, 6' -12' high, smooth, 

 with linear grass-like leaves, and rose-colored flowers ' wide. 

 * * Conservatory species from the tropics. 



T. zebrina, the only one common, spreads by branching and rooting freely, 

 rarely blossoms, is cult, for its foliage ; the lance-ovate or oblong rather succu- 

 lent leaves crimson beneath, and green or purplish above, variegated with two 

 broad stripes of silvery white. 



127. XYRIDACE^E, YELLOW-EYED GRASS F. 



Rush-like herbs, with equitant leaves, like Sedges, or rather Bul- 

 rushes, in having flowers in a head or spike one under each firm 

 glume-like bract, but with a regular perianth of 3 sepals and 3 col- 

 ored (yellow) petals ; also a 1 -celled many-seeded ovary and pod 

 with 3 parietal placentas, somewhat as in the Rush Family, repre- 

 sented by 



Xyris flexubsa, COMMON YELLOW-EYED GRASS, of sandy bogs. Scape 

 4' -16' high; head roundish; lateral sepals glume-like lance-oblong, boat- 

 shaped, wingless; the anterior one larger, membranaceous, enwrapping the 

 corolla in the bud and deciduous with it ; petals 3, with claws, alternating with 

 3 stei-ile bearded or plumose filaments and bearing on their base 3 naked fila- 

 ments with linear anthers ; style 3-cleft. y. 



X. Caroliniana, the commonest of several Southern species ; also N. : 

 l-2 high, the scape 2-edged at top, bearing a larger head (about ' long), 

 lateral sepals winged but nearly naked on the keel. ^ 



X. limbriata, from pine barrens of New Jersey S. : 2 high, with oblong 

 head almost 1' long, the lateral sepals fringed on the keel. }/ 



