PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY. 



Family 16. PONTEDERIACEAE Duinort. Anal. Pant. 50. 



PlCKERKL-WKRD FAMILY. 



Perennial aquatic or bog plants, the leaves petioled, with thick blade*, or 



long and grass-like. Flowers perfect, more <>r K-^ i mv ;u!.ir 



subtended by leaf-like spathes. Perianth free from the ovary, corolla-Hi 



parted. Stamens 3 or 6, inserted on the tuhe or the ba.se ,,i the j^rianlh 



inents filiform, dilated at the base or thickened, at the middle: anthrfs . cvlled 



linear-oblong or rarely ovate. ( )vary 3-celled with axile placentae, or i celled 



with 3 parietal placentae; style filiform or columnar; .sir. 



minutely toothed; ovules anatropous. numerous, sometimes on 



k-cting. Fruit a many-seeded capsule, or a i -celled. i-M-rd. 



sperm of the seed copious, mealy; embryo central. 



About 5 genera and 25 species, inhabiting fresh water -.11 tti. warm and temperate 

 America, Asia and Africa. 



Fl.>\vers 2-lipped, stamens 6; fruit a i-seeded utr 

 Flowers regular; stamens 3; fruit a many seedi d capsule. 



i. PONTEDERIA L. Sp. 1M. sss. 1753. 



Leaves thick with many parallel veins, the petioles long, sheath ^ from a 



zoutal rootstock. Stem erect, i -leaved, with several sheathing bract-like leaves at the base. 

 Flowers blue, ephemeral, numerous, spiked, the spike (or spndix) peduncled and subtended 

 by a thin bract-like spathe. Perianth 2-lipped, the upper lip of 3 ovate lobe*, the middle 

 lobe longest, the lower lip of 3 linear-oblong spreading lobes. Stamens 6, borne at unequal 

 distances upon the perianth-tube, 3 of them opposite the lower lip, the others opposite the 

 upper lip; anthers oblong, subversatile, introrse. Ovary 3-cclled, 3 of the cells abortive and 

 empty. Fruit a i-seeded utricle, enclosed in the thickened tubcrculatc-ribbed ba*e of the 

 perianth. [In honor of Giulio Pontedera, 1688-1757, professor of botany in Padua.] 



Seven or eight species, natives of America. 



i. Pontederia cordata L. Pickerel -weed, i Ki>j. , 

 Pontederia cordata L. Sp. PI. 288. 1753. 



Stem rather stout, i-4 tall. Leaves ovate, 

 cordate-sagittate, 4 / -8 / long, 2'-6' wide at the 

 base, the apex and basal lobes obtuse; basal lobes 

 often with long narrow stipule-like appendages on 

 the sheathing petiole; spadix and inflorescence 

 glandular-pubescent; perianth about 4" long, it 

 and the filaments, anthers, and style bright blue, 

 its tube curved, slightly longer than the lobes, 

 middle lobe of the upper lip with 2 yellow spots at 

 the base within; ovary oblong, tapering into the 

 slender style; stigma minutely 3-6-toothed. 



Borders of ponds and streams. Nova Scotia to Min- 

 nesota, south to Florida and Texas. After flowering 

 the lobes and upper part of the perianth-tube wither 

 above, while the persistent base hardens around the 

 fruit. The flowers are trimorphous. June < >et 



Pontederia cordata lancifolia i Muhl. ) Morong. Mem. 



Torr. Club, 5: 105. 1894. 

 Pouted, ria lancifolia Muhl. Cat. 34. 1813. 

 Pontederia cordala var. angiistifolia Torr. Fl. N. I 

 S. i. ^43. 1824. 



Leaves lanceolate, rounded or narrowed at the base, 

 2'-io' long, 3" -8" wide. Ontario to New Jersey, Cuba and Texas. 



2. HETERANTHERA R. \ 1' Prodi 



[SCHOLLERA Schreb. Gen. -S.s. 1789- Not R'>th. 

 Herbs with creeping, ascending or floating stems, the leaves pctiolec 

 oval or reniform blades, or grass-like. Spathes i- floweret! or sever 

 small, white, blue or yellow. Lobes of the perianth nearly or .,uite 



3, equal or unequal, inserted on the throat of the perianth. Ovary fottf 

 completely 3 -celled by the intrusion of the placentae; ovule* 

 Fruit an ovoid many-seeded capsule, enclosed in the withered pei 





C&LJ \j v uiu niaJ-i y -OV-VT^AV-V* v,**^u* 



-ribbed. [Greek, referring to the unequal anthers of t 



bout Q soecies. 2 in tropical Africa, the others Ameru- < f"llowinf in 



many- 



About 9 species, 2 in tropical 



*Text contributed by the late Rev. THOMAS MOK 





