452 IRIDACEAE. 



12. Iris verna L. Dwarf Iris. (Fig. 1080.) 



Iris verna L Sp. PI. 39- J 753- 



Rootstock slender. Stems i / ~3 / high, usually i- 

 flowered. Leaves narrowly linear, 3 / -8 / high, 2"-^" 

 wide; flowers violet-blue or rarely white, pedicelled; 

 perianth-segments crestless, the outer about ij^'long, 

 obovate, narrowed into slightly pubescent slender yel- 

 low claws, the inner somewhat smaller, glabrous; 

 capsule obtusely triangular, short. 



On shaded hillsides and in woods, southern Pennsylva- 

 nia to Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia. Rootstock de- 

 scribed as "pungently spicy." April-May. 



2. NEMASTYLIS Xutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 5: 157. 1833-37. 



[EusTYLis Engelm. & Gray, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 5: 235. 1845.] 



Bulbous herbs with erect slender terete usually branched stems and elongated linear 

 folded leaves. Flowers rather large, in our species blue or purple, solitary or several to- 

 gether, fugacious, subtended by 2 herbaceous bracts. Perianth of 6 spreading nearly equal 

 obovate segments, distinct nearly or quite to the summit of the ovary. Filaments more or 

 less united; anthers short; style short, its branches alternate with the anthers, each slen- 

 derly 2-parted; stigmas small, terminal. Capsule oblong, ovoid or obovoid, loculicidally 

 dehiscent at the summit. [Greek, referring to the thread-like style-branches.] 



About 10 species, natives of America. Besides the following, some 3 others occur in the 

 southern United States. 



i. Nemastylis acuta (Bart.) Herb. 

 Northern Nem asty lis . ( Fig . 1 08 1 . ) 



Ixia acuta Bart. Fl. N. A. 2: 89. pi. 66. 1822. 

 Nemttsiylis gemmiflora Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. 



(II.) 5: 1 57. 1833-37. 

 \etnasf j'lis acuta Herb. Bot. Mag. pi. 3779. 1839-40. 



Bulb dark colored, ovoid, scaly, i' or less long. 

 Stem i-2 tall, bearing 3 or 4 leaves, 3 / -io / long. 

 i^ // -2^ // wide; bracts lanceolate, each pair sub- 

 tending i or 2 flowers; flowers light blue or pur- 

 ple, i '-2' broad, slender-pedicelled; pedicels rather 

 shorter than the bracts; perianth-segments oblong- 

 obovate, obtuse; style-branches exserted between 

 the free parts of the filaments, their filiform divi- 

 sions 2 // ~3 // long; capsule obovoid, 5 // -6 // high, 

 3 // -4 // in diameter. 



On prairies, Tennessee to Kansas and Ark.r 

 south to Louisiana and Texas. April-June. 



3. GEMMINGIA Fabr. Enum. PI. Hort. Helm. 1759. 



[BELAMCANDA Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 60. 1763.] 

 [PARDANTHUS Ker, in Koenig & Sims, Ann. Bot. i: 246. 1805.] 



An erect perennial herb, with short stout rootstocks and /rz5-like leaves. Flowers in 

 terminal bracted clusters, rather large, orange and purple-mottled. Perianth of 6 oblong 

 spreading nearly equal withering-persistent segments, distinct very nearly to the summit of 

 the ovary. Stamens inserted on the bases of the segments; filaments distinct; anthers linear- 

 oblong. Style very slender, enlarged above, the 3 slender undivided branches alternate with 

 the anthers. Capsule fig-shaped, obovoid, thin-walled, loculicidally 3-valved, the valves re- 

 curving, finally falling away, exposing the mass of black fleshy seeds, which are borne on a 

 central axis. 



A monotypic genus of eastern Asia. 



