228 IMPORTANT FAMILIES OF PLANTS 



LILY FAMILY 



This very large and interesting family contains many valu- 

 able plants. The flowers are perfect, usually terminal and 

 solitary but occasionally in racemes or spikes. The perianth 

 is more or less tubular and six-parted or united into six lobes ; 

 six stamens and a three-chambered, many-seeded superior 

 ovary. 



Lily, Asparagus, Onion. This family may be character- 

 ized by the many species of lilies which grow wild or are culti- 

 vated for ornamental purposes. 



Among other important vegetable plants of this family are 

 the asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) and the onion (Allium 

 cepa and A. fistulosum). Among the ornamental plants are 

 the many true lilies, tulips, hyacinths, lilies of the valley, etc. 



Some Bad Weeds. The family includes a large number 

 of uncultivated plants, some of which are troublesome weeds. 

 Among the most important of these weeds are the wild onions, 

 or wild garlic, which frequently becomes established in old pas- 

 tures and gives a peculiar odor to milk and butter from cows 

 that feed on it. It is very difficult to eradicate, but can be 

 done by shallow plowing just deep enough to expose the bulbs 

 to the sun, followed by the growing of well-cultivated crops. 



Propagation. The asparagus is usually grown from seed, 

 but old crowns are sometimes divided. Onions are grown from 

 seeds, sets and bulbs. The ornamentals are usually grown from 

 bulbs or seeds. 



GRASS FAMILY (GEAMINE^E) 



Annuals or perennials, frequently with fibrous or creeping 

 rhizomes and often stoloniferous at the lower nodes. Flowers 

 perfect (occasionally monoecious or dioecious or polygamous) 

 and borne in spikelets which are collected into spikes or panicles. 

 Perianth imperfect (occasionally wanting) membranous or 

 fleshy. Stamens three or six (occasionally four, two or one). 



