Classification of Plants 253 



Order XYRIDACEJE. 



Flowers perfect ; calyx inferior, herbaceous, sepals 3, 

 rarely 2 ; side sepals small, anterior one large, enveloping 

 the flower. Corolla coloured, tubular, splitting with the 

 growth of the ovary ; lobes withering and persisting on (marces- 

 cent). Stamens 3, opposite the petals and joined to them, 

 sometimes with three hairy staminodia alternating, ovary 

 superior, i -chambered or imperfectly 3-chambered. Placentas 

 3, parietal or shortly united at base, with many orthotropous 

 ovules. Capsules dividing between the placentas (loculicidal). 

 Two genera, one of which, Xyris, is South African, scattered 

 over the warmer regions of the earth. 



FIG. 230. Floral diagram. Xyris, A, Sect. Nematopus ; B, Sect. Euxyris. 



The plants are tufted with grass-like radical leaves. 

 Scapes single, terminated by a head or spike of flowers. 

 They are found in damp places. Chiefly Eastern. 



Order LILIACE^E. 



Flowers perfect ; calyx and corolla similarly coloured, 

 usually regular. Perianth lobes separate or united in a tube. 

 Stamens 3 + 3. Ovary superior. Fruit a 3-celled septicidal 

 or loculicidal capsule or berry. The flower-stalks are usually 

 jointed, just under the flower, at the middle or near the base. 

 The stalk separates here when the seeds are ripe, or if the 

 ovules are not fertilized. 



This large order includes trees, shrubs, or bulbous or fibrous 

 rooted herbs. The flowers may be large and showy or small 



