f 

 Xerophyllum. LILIACE^E. 185 



30. NARTHECIUM, Moehring. BOG ASPHODEL. 



Perianth of 6 distinct yellowish-green narrowly lanceolate obscurely 3-nerved seg- 

 ments, reflexed or spreading in flower, soon erect, persistent. Stamens 6, hypogy- 

 nous, distinct ; filaments subulate, woolly ; anthers linear, basifixed, introrse. Ovary 

 sessile, linear-oblong, 3-celled and many-ovuled, attenuate upward to the small 

 slightly lobed stigma. Capsule thin-chartaceous, attenuate above, loculicidally 3- 

 valved. Seeds numerous, ascending from very near the base, small and linear, with 

 thin transparent testa, and with a long bristle-like tail at each end. Stem herba- 

 ceous and slender, from a creeping rhizome, with narrowly linear equitant leaves, 

 and flowers in a terminal raceme ; pedicels not jointed, bracteolate near the middle. 



A genus of four closely allied species, of Europe, E. Asia, the Atlantic States, and California, 

 respectively. 



1. N. Californicum, Baker. Eootstock slender, with scarious scales at the 

 nodes : stem a foot or two high, much exceeding the mostly basal leaves, which are 

 about 1| or 2 lines broad and usually 7-nerved ; cauline leaves 2 or 3, short : raceme 

 loose, becoming 3 to 5 inches long, 30 - 40-flowered ; pedicels 3 to 6 lines long, twice 

 longer than the linear-lanceolate bracts and bractlets : perianth 3 or 4 lines long, a 

 third longer than the stamens : filaments densely woolly except near the top : cap- 

 sule exserted ; cells 10- 15-seeded ; seeds a line long, or including the tails 5 lines 

 long. Journ. Linn. Soc. xv. 351. N. ossifragum, var. occidental, Gray, Proc. 

 Amer. Acad. vii. 391. 



Swamps on Red Mountain, Mendocino County (Bolander, n. 6548 ; Kellogg & Harford, n. 

 1031) ; on Downieville Butte, Sierra County, Lcmmon ; Delnorte County, Rattan. The ripened 

 capsules are of a bright salmon color. 



31. XEROPHYLLUM, Michx. 



Perianth white, of 6 distinct spreading oblong-lanceolate several-nerved persistent 

 segments. Stamens at the base ; filaments subulate-filiform ; anthers rounded, ex- 

 trorse, dehiscing laterally. Ovary sessile, ovate, 3-lobed ; styles distinct, linear, 

 stigmatic on the inner side, reflexed or recoiled, persistent : ovules 1 or 2 pairs in 

 each cell. Capsule chartaceous, loculicidally dehiscent to the base and occasionally 

 also septicidally. Seeds 2 to 4 in each cell, ascending, oblong, somewhat triangular- 

 flattened, with thin longitudinally wrinkled rather light-colored testa. Perennials, 

 with a short and thick woody tuber-like rootstock, numerous radical elongated very 

 narrowly linear dry striate and serrulate leaves, and a stout simple leafy stem bear- 

 ing a many-flowered raceme ; pedicels slender, not jointed, the bract often borne 

 upon the pedicel and resembling a bractlet. 



An American genus of three species, the third confined to the Atlantic States near the coast. 



1. X. tenax, Nutt. Rootstock an inch thick or more : radical leaves 2 or 3 feet 

 long by about 2 lines broad, flat above and somewhat carinate, rather rigid : stem 

 2 to 5 feet high, with scattered ascending leaves dilated at base : raceme dense, be- 

 coming a foot or two long, the lower bracts foliaceous and serrulate, the upper scarious 

 and often upon the lower part of the pedicel ; pedicels an inch or two long, erect in 

 fruit : flowers fragrant ; segments 4 or 5 lines long, scarcely equalling the stamens : 

 styles 2 lines long, exceeding the ovary : capsule broadly ovate, acute, nearly 3 lines 

 long, loculicidally 3-valved : seeds narrowly oblong. Helonias tenax, Pursh. X. 

 setifolium, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1613, not Michx. 



In the Coast Ranges, from Monterey (Parry) to British Columbia, sometimes occupying exten- 

 sive meadows ; also in the northern Sierra Nevada (Plumas County, Lcmmon, Mrs. Austin). 



