238 GROUPS AND ORDERS OF ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. 



GsoDP 4. Flowers with regular perianth, often in two series which are more or less petaloid (rarely glumaceous), free 

 from the 3-cellei] ovary. Seeds albuminous. — Herbs ; rarely climbing or shrubby plants. 



116. Smii.ice£. Perianth 6-parted. Stamens 6. Stigmas 3. Berry few- or many-seeded. Albumen hard. — Herbs 



or shrubby plants, often climbing and prickly. Leaves reticulately veined. 



117. LiLiACEa;. Perianth colored. Stamens 6. Styles united. Fruit capsular or sometimes fleshy. Albumen 



fleshy. — Herbs with the leaves sheathing or clasping at the base. 



118. PoNTEDEEiACE^. Flowcrs arising from the spatha, or from a fissure of the petiole. Perianth 6-cleft and 



persistent, or withering. Stamens 3 or 6. Capsules often one-celled. Albumen farinaceous. — 

 Aquatic plants. 



119. Melanthackje. Perianth regular, in a double series. Stamens 6. Capsules 3-parted. Embryo fleshy. — 



Herbs, with bulbs, corms, or fasciculated roots. 

 ISO. JtmcACEiE. Perianth C-leaved, glumaceous. Capsules 1 - 3-celled. — Herbaceous grass-like plants. 



Group 5. Flowers with a double orjmbricated perianth ; the exterior glumaceous or herbaceous ; the interior petiJoid, 

 Ovary free, 1 - 3-cel!ed. — Herbs, often grass-like. 

 121. CoMMELT.SACEiE. Calyx herbaceous. Filaments often hairy. Styles and stigmas united. Capsules 2-3- 



celled, few-seeded. — Perennial herbs, with fibrous or tuberous roots. 

 123. Xyridaceje. Calyx glumaceous. Petals with claws. Stamens 6, 3 of them sterile. Capsules 1-celIed, 

 many-seeded. — Rush-like plants, with scapes, and the flowers in heads. 



123. Eriocaulineje. Flowers minute, dioecious or monoecious, in dense heads intermixed with scales or hairs. 



Calyx glumaceous. Corolla 3-cleft. Stamens 6, the alternate ones imperfect. Capsules 2 - 3-celled, 

 2 - 3-seeded. — Aquatic or marsh rush-like plants. 



Group 6. Flowers imbricated with bracts (glumes and scales), and disposed in spikelets ; the proper perianth either 

 wanting, or taking the form of bristles or scales. Ovary one-celled, with a solitary ovule, becoming an 

 achenium or caryopsis in fruit. Embryo at the extremity of albumen next the hilum. 



124. CypEKACEa;. Flowers solitary in the axil of each bract. Perianth none, or in the form of bristles or scales 



Styles 2 - 3, commonly united. Fruit an achenium. — Culms usually solid. Sheaths of the leaves 

 entire. 



125. Gramine^:. Flowers in 2-ranked spikelets, usually several bracts to each flower, the inner 2 usually more 



delicate than the others. Perianth none, or in the form of 1 - 3 very minute scales. Styles or 

 stigmas 2. Fruit a caryopsis. — Culms hollow, closed at the nodes : sheaths of the leaves split. 



Group 1. Flowers mostly on a spadix, with the perianth either wanting or scale- 

 like, rarely regular and sitnple. — Chiefly herbs ; often aquatic. 



Order CVI. ARACEiE. Juss. The Arum Tribe. 



Spadix often naked at the extremity, usually surrounded by a spatha. Flowers 

 usually monoecious on the same spadix, and destitute of floral envelopes ; in a 

 few genera, furnished with a more or less distinct perianth. Sterile flowers 

 above : anthers commonly with a thick truncate connective. Ovary one- to 

 Beveral-celled, with one or several ovules. Seeds mostly with fleshy albumen, 

 rarely destitute of albumen when the embryo is large and globular. — Herbs 

 with a fleshy cormus or rhizoma (in tropical countries sometimes shrubby or 

 climbing). Leaves with sheathing petioles ; the lamina mostly large, compound 

 or divided. 



