ORCHIS FAMILY 47 



2. I. prismatica Pursh. SLENDER BLUE FLAG. Rootstock rather 

 slender, with tuber-like thickened portions. Stem slender, cylin- 

 drical, usually unbranched, 1-3 ft. high. Leaves 2-3 in number, nar- 

 rowly linear, i- in. wide. Flowers slender-peduncled, solitary or in 

 twos, blue with yellow veins, the perianth tube beardless and crest- 

 less. Ovary 3-angled; capsule sharply 3-angled. Marshy soil near 

 the coast. 



3. I. fulva Ker. YELLOW FLAG. Rootstock fleshy. Stem simple 

 or branched, grooved, 1-angled below, bearing 2-3 leaves, 2-3 ft. 

 high. Leaves linear, sword-shaped, with a bloom, shorter than the 

 stem ; bracts small. Pedicels short, flowers axillary and terminal, 

 dull yellow or reddish-brown, variegated with blue and green, peri- 

 anth segments not bearded. Style branches but little exceeding the 

 stamens ; ovary about as long as the inflated perianth tube ; capsule 

 ovate, 6-angled. Swamps and wet places.* 



4. I. germanica L. FLEUR-DE-LIS. Rootstock thick, matted. Stem 

 stout, branched, leafy, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves strap-shaped, acute, erect, 

 shorter than the stem ; bracts scarious. Flowers sessile, large and 

 showy, blue variegated with white and yellow, sometimes nearly all 

 white ; outer segments large, recurved, bearded, the inner narrower, 

 erect, or arched inward. Introduced from Europe ; common in gar- 

 dens and naturalized in many places.* 



HI. SISYRHINCHIUM L. 



Small, grass-like perennials. Stems erect, flattened, or 

 winged. Boots fibrous. Leaves linear or lanceolate. Flowers 

 small, blue, quickly withering, in terminal 2-bracted umbels. 

 Perianth corolla-like, of 6 bristle-pointed segments ; tube 

 nearly or wholly lacking. Stamens 3, completely monadel- 

 phous. Stigmas 3, thread-like. Fruit a nearly globular, 

 3-angled capsule. Species too difficult for the beginner; all 

 commonly known as Blue-Eyed Grass. 



13. ORCHIDACE^J. ORCHIS FAMILY 



Perennial herbs with simple stems, often arising from bulbs 

 or tubers. Leaves simple, usually alternate and entire. Flow- 

 ers bisexual, generally showy, epigynous, zygomorphic, and 

 often of extraordinary shapes. Perianth of 6 divisions. Sta- 

 mens 1 or 2, united with the pistil ; pollen of comparatively 



