486 COMMELYNACEJ5. (sriDERWORT FAMILY.) 



1. C. erecta, L. Stem erect, rather stout (2 -4 high); leaves large 

 (5' -7' long, l'-2' wide), oblong-lanceolate, the upper surface and margins very 

 rough backwards, sheaths fringed with rusty bristles ; sputhcs crowded and nearly 

 sessile, hooded, top-shaped in fruit ; odd petal shaped like the others but shorter, 

 round-ovate, raised on a claw; pod 3-celled. 1J. (C. Virginica, ed. 1, &c.) 

 A hairy form apparently is C. hirtella, Void. Alluvial and shaded river- 

 banks, Penn. to Illinois and southward. Our largest species, and the only one 

 with a top-shaped spathe. 



2. C. Virgiiiica., L. Stems slender, erect, or reclined and rooting to- 

 wards the base ; leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceolate ; spathes mostly solitary 

 or scattered, peduncled, conduplicate, round-heart-shaped when expanded, pointed, 

 in fruit somewhat hood-like, and with a short top-shaped base ; odd petal usu- 

 ally inconspicuous and nearly sessile; pod 2-celled. ]\. (C. Virginica, L., as 

 to syn. Pluk., which gave the name : Linnoeus's detailed description apparently 

 pertains to No. 1, which however must bear the name which he took from Dil- 

 lenius, the authority for the species. C. angustifolia, Michx. $ ed. 1.) Damp 

 rich woods and banks, S. New York to Michigan, Illinois, and southward. 



3. C. iiL^i'fs I'ia, Kunth. Stems creeping, glabrous ; leaves ovate-oblong or 

 lance-oblong, obtuse, small (l'-2' long) ; spathes heart-ovate when expanded, pe- 

 duncled, conduplicate, the base not contracted in fruit, 3 - 4-flowered ; the odd petal 

 round-ovate, nearly sessile. 1J. (C. Cajennensis, Ridi.) Alluvial banks, Illi- 

 nois and southward. The smallest-leaved and smallest-flowered species. 



2. TRADESCANTIA, L. SPIDERWORT. 



Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all alike, ovate, sessile. Sta- 

 mens all fertile: filaments bearded. Pod 2 - 3-celled, the cells 1-2-seeded. 

 Perennials. Stems mucilaginous, mostly upright, nearly simple, leafy. Leaves 

 keeled. Flowers ephemeral, in umbelled clusters, axillary and terminal ; the 

 floral leaves nearly like the others. (Named for the elder Tradescant, gardener 

 to Charles the First.) 



# Umbels sessile, clustered, usually involucrate by 2 leaves. 



1. T. Virgiiiica, L. (COMMON SPIDERWORT.) Leaves lanceolate-linear, 

 elongated, tapering from the sheathing base to the point, ciiiate, more or less 

 open; umbels terminal, many-flowered. Moist woods, from W. New York to 

 Wisconsin, and southward : commonly cultivated. May - Aug. Plant either 

 smooth or hairy ; the large flowers blue, in gardens often purplish or white. 



2. T. ]>ilos;i, Lchm. Leaves broadly lanceolate from a narrowed base, 

 pointed, downy-hairy both sides, minutely ciiiate ; umbels many-flowered, in 

 very dense terminal and axillary clusters ; pedicels and calyx glandular-hairy. 

 (T. flcxuosa, Raf.) Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and southward. June - Sept. 

 Stein stout, smooth below, 2 -3 high, often branched, zigzag above, with an at 

 length close cluster of small (f broad) lilac-blue flowers in all the upper axils. 



* * Umbels lonq-peditncled, tin.k<-<?. 



3. T. ros4:i, Vent. Small, slender (6' -10' high), smooth ; leaves linear, 

 grass-like, ciiiate at the base; umbel simple, or sometimes a pair; flowers (' 

 wide) rose-color. Sandy woods, Pcnn. (?) to Kentucky, and southward. 



