208 ORDER CXXXIII. PONTEDERIACE.E PICKEREL-WEED-FAM. ORDER CXXXV. JUNCACE.E RUSH-FAM. 



cuneate. Anthers sagittate, longer than the very short fila- 

 ments. Berry roundish, 3-celled. Cells few-seeded. 



1. S. roseus. Twistfoot. 



Stem smooth, somewhat stout, dichotomonsly branching ; leaves ovate, long- 

 acuminate, rounded and clasping at base, ciliate on the margin, smooth and 

 green on both sides; peduncles opposite the leaves, but bent and contorted so 

 as to appear axillary, filiform, pendent; flowers small, rose-color, spotted, more 

 than half as long as the short peduncle ; stigma obscurely 3-parted. An elegant 

 plant, 10' 15' high, common in dense, evergreen woods, especially in North- 

 ern districts and on mountains. May June. 



16. ASPARAGUS. 



Perianth erect, 6-parted ; segments spreading above, with the 

 6 stamens at base. Style short. Stigma 3-lobed. Berry globu- 

 lar, 3-celled. Cells 2-seeded. 



1. A. officinalis. 



Asparagus. 



Stem erect, very branching, herbaceous; leaves setaceous, in clusters, pale 

 green ; flowers small, axillary, solitary or 2 together, yellowish-green ; berries 

 red. A plant generally cultivated for its young shoots. It is to some extent 

 naturalized along the sea-coast Stem 2^4 ft. high. June. 



ORDER CXXXIII. Pontederiaceae. Pickerel- 

 weed-family. 



1. PONTEDERIA. 



Perianth funnel-form, bilabiate, upper lip 3-parted ; lower lip 

 of 3 spreading divisions, forming the curving tube of the perianth, 

 and separating more or less nearly down to the base ; lower part 

 persistent, inclosing the fruit. Stamens 6, 3 inserted near the 

 summit of the tube, and exsert ; 3 near the base (often imperfect) 

 with very short filaments. Ovary 3-celled, 1-ovuled. Per. 



1. P. cordata. Pickerel-weed. 



Stem thick and stout, erect, 1-Ieaved ; leaves mostly radical, cordate-sagit- 

 tate, smooth and glossy-green, petiolate; flowers blue, in a dense, terminal 

 spike, furnished with a bract-like spathe; tube of the perianth marked with 

 toothed ridges; anthers blue. A showy aquatic, common in shallow water and 

 muddy borders of ponds, arising from a creeping rhizoma. Scape 10' 18' 

 above water. It varies with scarcely cordate leaves. July. 



ORDER CXXXIV. Melanthacese. Colchi- 

 cum-family. 



1. VERlTRUM. 



Flowers polygamous ; segments of the perianth 6, distinct, 

 spreading, without glands at base. Stamens 6, shorter than the 

 perianth, and inserted at the base of its segments. Ovaries 3, 

 united at base, often abortive. Capsule 3-lobed, separating into 

 3 carpels. 



1. V. vfride. White Hellebore. 



Stem simple, stout, tall, very leafy, pubescent ; leaves broad-oval, acumin- 

 ate, strongly veined and plaited, sheathing at base; flowers dull-yellowish- 

 green, very numerous, in long, bracted racemes, forming a very large, pyra- 

 midal, terminal panicle. A coarse and rank-looking herb, common in low 

 meadows and swamps. Stem 24 ft high ; leaves 4' 6' long. The root is 

 extremely poisonous, and is sometimes used in medicine. June. 



ORDER CXXXV. Juncacese. Rush-family. 



1. LtTZULA. 



Perianth persistent. Stamens 6. Stigmas 3. Capsule 1- 

 celled, 3-seeded. Leaves grass-like. 



1. L. pilttea. Wood Rush. 



Leaves linear-lanceolate, hairy with long, whitish hairs; flowers usually 



solitary, pedunculate, in a long, leafy umbel ; sepals acuminate ; capsules ob- 

 tuse. A little grass-like plant, with hairy leaves, not uncommon in open wooda 

 and groves. Stein 4' 8' high. May. 



2. L. campestris. 



Field Rush. 



Leaves linear, hairy, especially on the margin; flowers in little spikes, ar- 

 ranged in a sort of umbel on peduncles of different lengths, the central one being 

 nearly sessile, all light brown or yellowish ; sepals acuminate, awned, longer 

 than the obtuse capsule. A still more common species than the last, clearly 

 distinguished by its flowers, sessile in little spikelets, and not on solitary pedun- 

 cles. Plant 3' 10' high, growing in fields and open woods. May. 



. . 



Perianth persistent, 6-parted. Stamens 6, rarely 3. Stigmas 

 3. Capsule 3-celled, loculicidal, many-seeded. 



* Leafless. Flmcere lateral. 



1. J. effiisus. Bullrush. 



Scape erect, soft and flexible, striate, sheathed at base ; flowers In a sessile, 

 very branching panicle, proceeding from a fissure in the side of the scape above 

 the middle, small, numerous, greenish ; sepals acute; stamens mostly 8; cap- 

 sule obtuse. A common Rush, growing in tufts in wet grounds. Scape slen- 

 der, 2 3 ft high. June July. 



* * Leaves nearly round, knotted, both cauline and radical. Flowers 

 terminal. 



2. J. paradoxus. 



Appendaged Rush. 



Stem somewhat stout, round ; leaves nearly or quite round ; flowers in 

 greenish, many-flowered, globose heads, forming a decompound panicle ; sepals 

 lanceolate, tapering to a slightly subulate point A common species in wet 

 grounds, distinguished by its decompound panicle and globular, many-flowered 

 heads. Stem 2 ft high. July Aug. 



3. J. acuminatus. Bog Rush. 



Stem erect, round ; leaves few, round or nearly so ; flowers in many or few 

 brownish, few-flowered heads, arranged in a panicle with somewhat spreading 

 branches ; sepals linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, very acute, much shorter than 

 the acute, triangular capsule. A common species in bogs and along ponds. 

 Stem 10' 18' high, slender. Aug. 



* * * Leaves flat or channelled, or somewhat involute. Floicer*8 terminal. 



4. J. tenuis. Slender Rush. 



Stem very slender, erect, leafless, except at base ; leaves linear, setaceous, 

 shorter than the stem ; bracts of the involucre 2 3, recurved, much longer 

 than the cymose panicles ; flowers separate, rarely sessile, in a loose, somewhat 

 mnbelled, cymose panicle, with unequal branches ; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, 

 longer than the ovoid-globose capsule. A common and very slender Rush, 

 along paths and in fields, distinguished by its narrow leaves and separate 

 flowers. 



5. J. Gerardi. 



Black Grass. 



Stem simple, compressed, leafy, rigidly erect, or procumbent; leaves mostly 

 radical, very narrowly-linear, shorter than the stem ; flowers in a small, few- 

 flowered, crowded panicle; bracts of the involucre shorter* than the panicle; 

 sepals oblong-ovate, obtuse, about as long as the obtuse capsule. A common 

 species in salt marshes, where it is distinguished by its dark green foliage and 

 dark brown fruit Stem 6' 12' high. July. 



6. J. bufonius. 



Annual Rush. 



Stem slender, leafy, often branching at base; leaves channelled, very nar- 

 rowly linear; flowers greenish, remote, sessile, forming a spreading dichotom- 

 ously branching panicle ; sepals lanceolate, subulate at the point, much longer 

 than the obtuse capsule. A little, annual species, growing in tufts, and distin- 

 guished by its branching stem and dichotomous panicle. Stems 3' 6' high. 

 Common along road-sides. June Aug. 



7. J. marginatus. 



Broad-leaved Rush. 



Stem erect, compressed, leafy; leaves linear, thick, somewhat grass-like; 

 flowers clustered in little, few-flowered heads, and forming a cymose panicle, 

 which is simple or compound ; sepals oblong, as long as the globular capsule, 

 light brown ; stamens 3. A common species in Southern N. Eng. and N. York, 

 in low grounds, distinguished by its comparatively broad, grass like leaves, and 

 nearly flat and somewhat dense, cymose panicles. Stem 13 ft, high- July, 



