546 COM-MELYNACEiE. (SPIDERWORT FAMILY.) 



Order 124. COI»I]IIEL.YIVACE^. (Spiderwort Family.) 



Herbs, icith Jibrowt or somelimes thickened roots, Jointed and often branch- 

 inr/ leafy stems, and c/iiefli/ perfect ant! G-androus, of en irrecjular flowers, 

 with the perianth free from the 2 - 3-celled ovary, and having a distinct calyx 

 and corolla, viz. : Sepals 3, persistent, commonly herbaceous. Petals 3, 

 ephemeral, decaying or deciduous. Stamens hypogynous, some of them 

 v)ften sterile : anthers with 2 separated cells. Style 1 : stigma undivided. 

 Pod 2 - 3-celled, 2 - 3-valved, loculicidal, 3 - several-seeded. Seeds ortho- 

 fropous. Embryo small, pulley -shaped, partly sunk in a shallow depression 

 at the apex of the albumen. Leaves ovate, lanceolate or linear, j)arallel- 

 veined, flat, sheathed at the base ; the uppermost often dissimilar and 

 forming a kind of spathe. — A chietly tropical family, not aquatic, here 

 represented only by two genera. 



1. COMMELYNA, Dill. D.vy-flower. 



Flowers irregular. Sepals sonifwliut colored, uneijual ; the 2 lateral partly 

 united by tlieir contig:uous margins. Two lateral petals rounded or kidney- 

 shaped, on long claws, the odd one smaller. Stamens unequal, 3 of tliein fer- 

 tile, one of which is bent inward: 3 of them sterile and smaller, with imperfect 

 cross-shaped anthers : filaments naked. Pod 3-cclled, two of the cells 2-seedcd, 

 the other 1 -seeded or abortive. — Stems branching, often procumbent and root- 

 ing at the joints. Leaves contracted at the base into shcathin<.f petioles; the 

 floral one heart-shaped and clasping, folded together or hooded, fornnng a spathe 

 enclosing the flowers, which expand for a single morning and are recurved 

 on their pedicel before and afterwards. Petals blue. Flowering all summer. 

 Ours all with perennial roots, or propagating by striking root from the joints. 

 (Dedicated to the early Dutch botainsts ./. and G. Commehjn.) 



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

 (3' -7' long, l'-2' wide), oblongdanceolate, the upper surface and margins 

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

 sessile, hoodtd, lop-shaped in fruit ; odd petal like the others but smaller, round- 

 ovate raised on a claw; pod 3cellcd. (C. Virginica, Ed. 1. A hairy form is 

 C. hirtella, Vaht.) — Alluvial and shaded river-banks, Penn. to Illinois and 

 southwai'd. — Our largest species, and the only one with a top-shaped spathe. 



2 C. Virginica, L. Stems slender, erect, or reclined and rooting towards 

 the base; leaves oblong- or linear-lanceolate; spatlies mostly solitary or scattered, 

 Ijeduriclcd, cimduplicate, round-heart -shaped when expanded, pointed, in fruit some- 

 what hooddike ; odd petal usually inconspicuous and nearly sessile ; pod 2-celled. 

 (C. Virginica, L., as to syn. Pluk., which gave the name: Linnieus's detailed 

 description apparently pertains to No. i, which however must bear the name 

 which he took from Dillenius, the authority for the species. C. angustifolia. 

 Mickx., is a narrow-leaved form.) — Damp rich woods and banks, S. New York 

 to Michigan, Illinois, and southward. 



3. C. Cayenn^nsis, Kidiard. Stems creeping, glabrous; leaves ovate- 

 ciblong or lance-oUony, ohtuie, small (r'-2' long); sputhes heart-ovate when ex- 



