\yhiiui h I 



XYKIDAi 







o 



br l.\ XYR1DAC1 i \ 



K "■tli in llutiJ, N. I 18] 



mm. 



1. 1' 1 I 



j plants with fibrous roots. I 

 with enlarged scarious sheathing bases. Flowers in terminal, imbi 

 Sepals •"■, glumaceous, I 'eti 

 thin, long, and coloured, united 

 into a monopetalous corolla. I i r- 

 tile stamens 3, inserted upon t i ». - 

 clawi i'i' the petals ; anthers 

 turned outwards, 2-ei I 

 rile Btamens alternate with the 

 petals. Ovary single, I -celled, 

 with parietal placentae ; ovules 

 numerous, orthotropal : style 

 trifid ; stigmas obtuse, multifid, 

 or undivided. Capsule 1-celled, 

 3-valved, many-seeded, with pa- 

 rieta) placentae. Si ed with the 

 embryo od the outside of the 

 fleshy albumen, and at the end 

 most remote from the hilum. 



These plants join t" the habit 



and other glumaceous plants, the floral chara 

 worts ; and this circumstance alone would lead t<> the - - □ that 

 thej form a peculiar natural Order. Thej are brought into contact 

 with the Aphyllanth LUies by means of the genus Borya, which is 

 bo intermediate between the Orders that it is hard to saj to which it 

 belongs. The Xyrids were united with Eb j Brown and 



others, but separated as a distincl Order bj Agardh and I '■ ~\ anx, 

 and tiny appear t<> !»• essentially distinguished by the higher 

 lopment "i their Bora! envelopes, a character which must be 

 as more important than the mi re accordance in the structure of the 

 aeed, inconsequence of which chiefly they hai tained i: 



tiacese. Rapateaand Dasypogon are bo imperfectly described that 

 it i- impossible to Bay where they belong : but their habit refers them 

 eithi r here or to the Rush 



All are natives of the hotter parts of the world, chiefly i- 

 pics of Am. rica, Asia, and Africa. Two >t thn i 

 are found in the southern states "i North America. 



The 1. aves and root "i Xyris indica are employed against it -I. 

 leprosj in India ; X. americana i~ r the sip 



Guiana, and X. vaginatain Bra 





— N n 



i.l. // .• /■'. 



, rum, W'iUil. 



i.l \i [I \ 

 \ iridium, A 



- 







, \ \ 



.— Mayao \ 

 Fig. ixwiii.— xyris opereulata j l.aflowa 



