3^ 



THE PINE-APPLE FAMILY. 



gain a livelihood. 



In fact, had it not been for the cabbage palmetto, the til- 

 landsias and the game the Seminole Indians brought 

 in their canoes and exchanged for silver money, the 

 people would have starved. Besides the long moss 

 and the two species that follow there are about ten 

 others occurring in the United States and over 300 

 which are indigenous to tropical America. Many of 

 the more attractive ones are used as decorative plants 

 in greenhouses where they are hung up on wire nets. 

 One man from Dade County used to collect such as 

 these, take them up to Jacksonville and from there 

 ship them by the cargo. 



T. caspitbsa, a hoary plant, bears few-flowered 



spikes with terminal flowers, the blue petals of which 



are considerably longer than their conspicuous bracts. 



On the trunks of trees it grows in great, rounded 



clusters. 



T. Bartrdnu'i, as the preceding species, has linear, scurfy 



leaves which are dilated at their bases. They are erect and 



rigid and about as long as the stem. Towards their summits 



they become bristle-like. The petals of the flowers are blue. 



THE SPIDERWORT FAMILY. 



CoviJJiclinacc^. 



Herbs untJi 7'egielar, or irregular and perfect flowers iv/iich grow in 

 cy?nes, and are usually subtended by leafy or spathedike open bracts. 



VIRGINIA DAY=FLOWER. {Plate XIII) 



Com meVi na Vij-g in ica . 



FAMILY 

 Spiderwoft. 



COLOUR 



ODOUR 



Scentless, 



RANGE 



Texas and Florida 



to New York. 



TIME OF Bl OOM 

 June-Septe)nber. 



Flowers : showy ; irregular; growing in sessile cymes and subtended by aspathe- 

 ]ike bract. Sepals : three, unequal in size. Petals : three, two of which are large, 

 while the third one is more inconspicuous. Stamens : usually six, three being im- 

 perfect. Capsule: three-celled, each cell containing a single seed, although one 

 cell does not open to allow of its escape. Leaves; simple; alternate; Ian 



