442 BURMANNIACE^E. (BURMANNIA FAMILY.) 



long), obscurely serrulate, obtuse, somewhat nerved and netted-veined. Com- 

 mon in slow rivers, &c. August. (Eu.) 



ORDER 118. BURMANNIACE^E. (BURMANNIA FAMILY.) 



Small annual herbs, often with minute and scale-like leaves, or those of the 

 root grass-like ; the Jlowers perfect, with a S-cleft corolla-like perianth, the 

 tube of which adheres to the l-celled or ^-celled ovary; stamens 3 and dis- 

 tinct, opposite the inner divisions of the perianth ; pod many-seeded, the seeds 

 very minute. A small chiefly tropical family, of which only one plant is 

 found within our borders. 



1. BURMANNIA, L. (TRIPTERSLLA, Michx.) 



Ovary 3-celled, with the thick placentae in the axis. Filaments 3, very short. 

 Style slender: stigma capitate-3-lobed. Pod often 3-winged. (Named for 

 J. Bunnann, an early Dutch botanist.) 



1. B. bifldra, L. Stem low and slender (2' -4' high), 2-flowered at the 

 summit, or soon several-flowered ; perianth (2" -3" long) bright blue, 3-winged. 

 (Tripterella caerulea, Michx.) Peaty bogs, Virginia and southward. 



ORDER 119. ORCHIDACE^E. (ORCHIS FAMILY.) 



Herbs, distinguished by their irregular Jlowers, 6-merous perianth adherent 

 to the l-celled ovary with 3 parietal placentce, gynandrous stamens (only 1 or 

 2), and pollen cohering in waxy or mealy masses. Fruit a l-celled 3-valved 

 pod, with innumerable minute seeds, appearing like fine saw-dust. Peri- 

 anth of 6 divisions in 2 sets ; the 3 outer (sepal*) of the same petal-like 

 texture and appearance as the 3 inner (petals}, of which the upper or pos- 

 terior one, but by the twisting of the ovary or stalk commonly appearing 

 the lower or anterior, differs more or less in shape or direction from the 

 others, is often spurred or appendaged, and is called the lip. Opposite 

 this, in the axis of the flower, is the column, which is composed of a single 

 stamen (or in Cypripedium of 2 fertile stamens) entirely coherent and 

 confluent with the style, on which the 2-celled anther is variously situated. 

 Perennial herbs, often tuber-bearing, or with tuberous or thickened 

 roots. Leaves parallel-nerved. Flowers commonly showy and singular 

 in shape, either spiked, racemed, or solitary, bracted. A large family, but 

 sparingly represented in the United States. 



Synopsis. 



I. Anther only one. 



THIBK I. OPHRYDE JE. Anther (of 2 separate cells) entirely adnate to the mce ol the 

 stigma, erect. Pollen cohering into a great number of coarse grains, which are all fast- 

 ened by elastic and cobwebby tissue into one large mass, with a stalk that connects i1 

 with a gland of the stigma. (Flower ringent, the lip vdth a spur beneath. ) 



