BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY. 



Family 18. MELANTHACEAE R. Br. Prodr. i: 273. 



BUNCH-KLOWKR FAMILY. 





by transverse vemlets. Flowers IK-:: Kamou* ord 



, cemose, panicled or solitary. Perianth of 6^iirte or' ncarl 



Me, usually persistent segments. Stamens 6, borm- ..n the hues < 

 ianth-segments Anthers small, Celled, oblong ,,r ,, v .,tc, or conflurtttU 

 i -celled and cordate or remform. mostly versatile an.l extmr 

 troree in Tofieldia and Abama). Ovary . V cellel. superior or rarely tx, 

 feor; ovules few or numerous in each cavit; 



les 3, distinct, or more or less united. Fruit a i .nsuU- u,th 

 shiscence (loculicidal in Abama and Uimlari*). SvoU .o 

 spendaged. Embryo small, in usually eopim> 

 About 36 genera and 140 species, widely distribute. 1. 



.ornmonly tailed or 



lowers numerous in terminal erect racemes or pan 



Anthers oblong or ovate, 2 celled. 



Anthers introrsely dehiscent. 



Capsule septicidal; flowers involucrate by i bractleU. 

 Capsule loculicidal; flowers not involucrale 

 Anthers extrorsely dehiscent. 

 Flowers perfect. 



Leaves basal, oblanceolate ; seed-. mum-rot:- 

 Stem very leafy; leaves linear; seed- t\\\ 

 Flowers dioecious: stem leafy. 

 Anthers cordate or reniform, confluently i-celled. 

 Plants glabrous. 



Perianth-segments not gland-bearing. 



Flowers perfect; perianth-segments obtu-e 

 Flowers polygamous; perianth-Mffmento aou&il 

 Perianth-segments bearing i or 2 glands, or a poL 

 Stem and inflorescence pubescent. 



Perianth-segments clawed, free from the ovary 

 Perianth-segments not clawed, adnate to the base of the ovary. 

 lowers solitarj-, terminal or opposite the leaves, drooping. 







imikimm 



9. J/s/Mf w 



10 I ,-;-:.-. 



i. TOFIELDIA Huds. Fl. Angl. Ed. 2, 1^7. 1778. 



Perennial herbs, with short erect or horizontal rootstocks, fibrous rooU, tltmdtr 

 terns leafless above or nearly so, linear somewhat 2-ranki-<l and cquitant leave* cliutered at 

 the base, and small perfect white or green flowers in a terminal raceme. PcdiceU bracted at 

 the base, solitary or clustered. Flowers usually involucrate by 3 scanous omewhal united 

 bractlets below the calyx. Perianth-segments oblong or obovate, subeqnal, pemateot. K Land- 

 less. Stamens 6; filaments filiform; anthers ovate, sometimes cordate, introne. Otrmry 

 sile, 3-lobed at the summit; styles 3, short, recurved. Capsule j-lobed. j-beakcd. 

 ally dehiscent to the base, many-seeded. Seerls tailed or appendagcd in moat 

 [Dedicated to Tofield, an English correspondent of Hudson.] 



About 15 species, natives of the north tempi-rate zone. I >r 2 in the Am!' 

 Besides the following another occurs in tne southeastern States and two in north we item An< 

 Stem glabrous; seeds unappendaged. 

 Stem viscid-pubescent: seeds appendaged. 



Capsule oblong, 3 high; perianth segments thin. 



Capsule ovoid, iW'-z" high; perianth-segnu-nt> rigid in fruit. 



i. Tofieldia palustris Huds. Scottish 

 Asphodel. (Fig. 966.) 



Ttli'ldia palustris Huds. Fl. Angl. Kd. 2, 157. 177^ 



Glabrous, stem slender, scape-like, leafless or bearing 

 a few leaves near the base, a'-io' tall. Leaves tufted, 

 ^'-^long, ^ // -2 // wide; raceme oblong or subglobose in 

 flower, dense, elongating to an inch or less in fruit, the 

 lower flowers first expanding; pedicels usually solitary. 

 minutely involucrate, W~\" long in fruit; flowers 

 greenish white, \" broad; perianth-segments oborate. 

 obtuse, much shorter than the oblong-globose minutely 

 beaked capsule; seeds oblong, unappendaged. 



Greenland and Labrador to Alaska, south to Quebec, the 

 shores of Lake Superior, and the Canadian Rocky a 

 tains. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer. 



26 



