420 



LILIACEAE. 



base. Stamens 6, hypogynous, shorter than the perianth; anthers linear oblong, not versa- 

 tile. Ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules numerous or several in each cavity; style filiform or 

 thickened above, 3-lobed or 3-cleft. Capsule obovoid or oblong, somewhat 3-angled, locu- 

 licidal. Seeds compressed, or somewhat angled and swollen. [Greek, in allusion to the 

 flowers of some species.] 



About 12 species, all but one North American. The species are erroneous^- called Dog's-tooth 

 Violet. 



Stem with no offshoot; flowers io"-2' long. 



Offshoots produced at the base of the conn; perianth-segments recurved. 



Flowers yellow; stigmas very short. I. E. Americanum. 



Flowers white, blue or purple; stigmas i"-ij" long, recurved. 2. E. albidum. 



No offshoots, propagating by basal corms; perianth-segments not recurved. 



3. E. mesachoreum. 

 Stem with a fleshy offshoot below the leaves; flowers rose, about K' long. 4. E. propullans. 



)CU- 



5 



i 



i. Erythronium Americanum Ker. Yellow Adder 's-tongue. (Fig. 1012.) 



Erythronium Americanum Ker, Bot. Mag. 



pi. inj. i Je. 1808. 

 Erythronium angustatum Raf. Med. Rep. 



(II.) 5: 354. 20 Jl. I808. 



Erythronium bracteatum Bigel.; Beck, Bot. 

 N. & Mid. States, 365. 1833. 



Conn ovoid, 6 // -io' / high, producing off- 

 shoots from its base. Stem #-i long; 

 leaves oblong or oblong -lanceolate, 3'-S' 

 long, YZ'-I' wide, acute or short-acuminate 

 at the apex, flat, usually mottled with 

 brown, but sometimes green all over, nar- 

 rowed into clasping petioles; peduncle 

 about as long as the leaves, rarely bearing a 

 bract ; flower yellow, or rarely purplish 

 tinged; perianth-segments oblong, io // -2 / 

 long, 3 // -4 // wide, recurved, dotted within, 

 the 3 inner auricled at the base; style club- 

 shaped, with 3 very short stigmatic ridges; 

 capsule obovoid, contracted into a short 

 stipe, 6 // -io // high; seeds curved, rounded 

 on the back, about i% /f long, pointed at 

 both ends. 



In moist woods and thickets, Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Florida. Missouri 

 and Arkansas. Ascends to 5500 ft. in Virginia. March-May. 



2. Erythronium albidum Xutt. 



White Adder' s-tongue. 



(Fig. 1013.) 



Erythronium albidum Xutt. Gen. i: 223. 



Similar to the preceding species, the plant 

 propagating by offshoots from the base of the 

 corm, the leaves mottled or green all over, 

 sometimes rather narrower. Flower white, 

 blue or purple; perianth-segments oblong, 

 recurved, none of them auricled at the 

 style somewhat thickened upward; stigmas 

 linear, finally recurving, i"-ih // long; 

 capsule obovoid or oblong, 5"-9" high. 



In moist woods and thickets, Ontario to M^ 

 nesota, south to Georgia, Tennessee and Texal 

 Not common eastward. March-May. 



I 



