MELANTHACEAE* 255 



Anthers extrorsely dehiscent. 

 Flowers perfect. 



Stem very leafy; leaves linear; seeds few. 3. Xerophyllum* 



Leaves basal, oblanceolate; seeds numerous. 4. Helonias. 



Flowers dioecious; stem leafy. 5. Chamaelirium. 



Anthers cordate or reniform, confidently i-celled. 



Plants glabrous. 



Perianth-segments not gland-bearing. 



Flowers perfect; perianth-segments obtuse. 6. Chrospermc 



Flowers polygamous; perianth-segments acuminate. 7. Stenanthium. 

 Perianth-segments bearing i or 2 glands, or a spot. 8. Zygadenus. 



Stem and inflorescence pubescent. 



Perianth-segments clawed, free from the ovary. 9. Melanthium. 



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



10. Veratrum. 

 Flowers solitary, terminal or opposite the leaves, drooping. n. Uvularia. 



i. TOFIELDIA Huds. 



Perennial herbs, with short erect or horizontal rootstocks, fibrous roots, slender 

 erect stems leafless above or nearly so, linear leaves clustered at the base, and small 

 perfect white or green flowers in a terminal raceme. Pedicels bracted at the base, 

 solitary or clustered. Flowers usually involucrate by 3 scarious somewhat united 

 bractlets. Perianth-segments oblong or obovate, subequal, persistent, glandless. 

 Stamens 6; filaments filiform; anthers ovate, sometimes cordate, introrse. Ovary 

 sessile, 3-lobed at the summit; styles 3, short, recurved. Capsule 3-lobed, 3- 

 beaked, septicidally dehiscent to the base, many-seeded. Seeds tailed or append- 

 aged in most species. [Dedicated to Tofield, an English correspondent of Hud- 

 son.] About 15 species, natives of the north temperate zone, i or 2 in the Andes 

 of South America. Besides the following another occurs in the southeastern States 

 and two in northwestern America. 



Stem glabrous; seeds unappendaged. i. T. palustris. 

 Stem viscid-pubescent; seeds appendaged. 



Capsule oblong, 6mm. high; perianth-segments thin. 2. T. glutinosa. 



Capsule ovoid, 3-4 mm. high; perianth-segments rigid in fruit. 3. T. racemosa, 



1. Tofieldia palustris Huds. SCOTTISH ASPHODEL. (I. F. f. 966.) Stems 

 slender, leafless or bearing a few leaves near the base, 5-25 cm. tall. Leaves 

 14 mm. 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, 1-2 mm. long in fruit; flowers greenish white, 2 mm. broad; perianth- 

 segments obovate, obtuse, much shorter than the oblong-globose minutely beaked 

 capsule. Greenland and Lab. to Alaska, Quebec, Lake Superior, and the Canadian 

 Rocky Mts. Also in Europe and Asia. Summer. 



2. Tofieldia glutinosa (Michx.) Pers. GLUTINOUS TOFIELDIA. (I. F. f. 967.) 

 Stem viscid-pubescent with black glands, 1.5-5 dm. ta ^> bearing 2-4 leaves near 

 the base. Basal leaves 2-6 mm. wide; raceme oblong and 1-3 cm. long in flower, 

 longer in fruit, the upper flowers first expanding; pedicels commonly clustered in 

 3's (i's-4's), becoming 412 mm. long in fruit; involucral bracts minute, united 

 nearly or quite to their apices, flowers 6-8 mm. broad; perianth- segments oblong, 

 mostly obtuse; capsule oblong, about 6 mm. high, twice as long as the perianth; 

 seeds tailed at each end. In bogs, Newf. to Alaska, Me., Ohio, Mich., Wyo. and 

 Ore., and in the southern Alleghenies. May-June. 



?. Tofieldia racemosa (Walt.) B. S. P. VISCID TOFIELDIA. (I. F. f. 968.) 

 Similar to the preceding but rather stouter and taller; the glutinous pubescence 

 rougher. Leaves 1.5-4.5 dm. long, 3-6 mm. wide; raceme 2-10 cm. long in 

 flower, often loose, the uppermost flowers first expanding; pedicels mostly clustered 

 in 3's, ascending; involucral bractlets alx;>ut I mm. long, united to above the 

 middle; perianth-segments narrowly obovate, obtuse, rigid; capsule ovoid, 3 mm. 

 long, little longer than the calyx; seeds tailed at each end. In swamps, S. N. J. 

 to Fla. and Ala. June-Sept. 



2. ABAMA Adans. [NARTHECIUM Juss.] 



Perennial herbs, with creeping or horizontal rootstocks, fibrous roots, erect 

 simple stems and linear grass-like basal leaves, those of the stem short and distant. 



