46 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 



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 ; com- 

 mon in gardens and naturalized in many places.* 



3. I. fulva, Ker. YELLOW FLAG. Rootstock fleshy. Stem sim- 

 ple 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.* 



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 rnonadel- 

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

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



13. ORCHIDACEJE. ORCHIS FAMILY. 



Perennial herbs with simple stems, often arising from bulbs 

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

 ers perfect, generally showy, often extraordinarily irregular. 

 Perianth of 6 divisions, adnate to the 1-celled ovary. Stamens 

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

 grains held together in masses by cobweb-like threads. Ovary 

 1-celled, containing many (sometimes more than a million) 

 very minute ovules. 



The family is a difficult one, and most of the genera are 

 so rare that specimens should not be collected in large num- 

 bers for class study. Two of the most familiar genera are 

 Cypripedium, or lady's slipper, and Spiranthes, or lady's tresses. 

 Many of the genera are tropical air-plants like Part I, Fig. 13. 



