Monocotyledones. 19 



DRAGON. Leaves pedately divided into 5-17 segments. Spadix long and taper- 

 ing, exceeding the greenish or whitish, narrow, convolute, and pointed spathe. 

 Rich woods or low grounds. 



COMMELINACEJE. SPIDERWORT FAMILY. 



Stems herbaceous and jointed ; leaves lanceolate, linear, or ovate, 

 sheathing the stem at the base, parallel veined. Roots perennial, 

 fibrous, or thickened. Flowers usually perfect, consisting of 3 per- 

 sistent green sepals, and 3 blue, purple, or rose-colored, ephemeral 

 petals, 6 stamens, and a single 2-3-celled superior ovary, containing 

 3-several ovules, and surmounted by a single undivided style. Fruit 

 a 2-3-celled capsule. 



I. TRADESCANTIA. Spiderwort. 

 (Tradescant, gardener to Charles I. of England.) 



Stems upright, nearly simple, and mucilaginous, bearing keeled leaves. Flowers 

 crowded in terminal or axillary umbels ; filaments bearded. 



1. Tradescantia Virginica, L. COMMON SPIDERWORT. Leaves linear or 

 linear-lanceolate, flat or channeled, sometimes i foot or more long; stems varying 

 in height from about 8 inches to 3 feet; leaflike bracts subtending the inflores- 

 cence. Flowers of various shades of blue and purple, from i to 2 inches broad. 

 Rich ground. 



2. Tradescantia rosea, Vent. (L., roseus, rosy; from rosa, a rose.) Leaves 

 narrowly linear and grasslike ; stems erect, from 6 to 12 inches tall ; bracts below 

 the flowers short and scarious ; umbels on long terminal peduncles ; rose-colored 

 corolla from \ to | inch broad. In dry and sandy woods. 



LILIACE-3E. LILY FAMILY. 



Herbs, perennial by means of bulbs, corms, or rootstocks ; rarely 

 woody plants. Flowers regular and symmetrical ; perianth consisting 

 of 6 distinct or nearly distinct segments, which (excepting in Trillium) 

 are colored nearly alike ; stamens 6, borne on or at the base of the 

 perianth, i before each of its segments. Ovary superior, 3-celled. 

 Fruit a loculicidal capsule or a berry. 



Woody climbers. SMILAX I. 



Not woody climbers. 



Flowers umbellate on naked scapes, 



Having the odor of onions. ALLIUM II. 



Not having the odor of onions. NOTHOSCORDUM III. 



Flowers in racemes or spikes on naked scapes, 



Divisions of the perianth separate nearly or quite to the base. CAMASSIA IV. 



Divisions of the perianth united into a tube below. HvACINTHUS V. 



