BROMELIACEAE (PINEAPPLE FAMILY) 265 



6. T. bracteita Small. Sordid glandular-villous above; bracts relatively 

 (arge^ conduplicate, recurved, their bases 2-2.8 cm. broad; flowers large, 2.6-3 

 cm. in diameter. — Prairies, " Minn.," and la. to Tex. and B. C. 



7. T. occidentalis (Britton) Smyth. Slender, 3 dm. high ; leaves narrowly 

 linear, involute, their bases often enlarged and scarious ; the bracts scarcely if at 

 all broader than the foliar leaves; sepals glandular-pubescent, about 1 cm. long ; 

 petals blue (or roseate), about l.-l cm. long. — " la.'" to Neb., Tex., and N. Mex. 



T. montXna Shuttlw., not Heyne, a southern species distinguished from 

 T. virginiana chiefly by its smaller flowers and smoother calyx and from T. 

 reflexa by its broader greener leaves, is said to extend as far north as Va. and Ky. 



2. COMMELtNA [Plum.] L. Day-flower 



Flowers irregular. Sepals somewhat colored, unequal ; the 2 lateral partly 

 united. Two lateral petals rounded or kidney-shaped, on long claws, tlie odd 

 one smaller. Stamens unequal, 3 of them fertile, one of which is bent inward ; 

 3 of them sterile and smaller, with imperfect cross-shaped anthers ; filaments 

 flaked. — Often procumbent and rooting at the joints. Leaves contracted at base 

 into sheathing petioles ; the floral one heart-shaped and clasping, folded together 

 or hooded, forming a spathe inclosing the flower's, which expand for a single 

 morning and are recurved on their pedicel before and afterward. Petals blue. 

 Flowering all summer. Ours all with perennial roots, or propagating by striking 

 root from the joints. (Dedicated to the early Dutch botanists J. and O, 

 Commelin.) 



* Ventral cells 2-ovuled (usually 2-seeded), the dorsal l-ovuled. 



1. C. communis L. Slender and creeping, nearly glabrous ; leaves lanceo- 

 late, 2-5 cm. long; spathe cordate, acute, with margins not united; seeds shal- 

 lowly pitted, granulate-reticulated. (C. nudiflora auth., not L. ) — Alluvial 

 banks, Del. to Fla., w. to Kan. and Tex. — A frequent weed of dooryards and 

 gardens, northeastw. to e. Mass. (E. Asia, Trop. reg.) 



2. C. hirtella Vahl. Stout, erect, 6-12 dm. high ; leaves large, lanceolate, 

 the sheaths brown-bearded; spathes crowded, with margins united; seeds 

 smooth. — River-banks, Pa. to Fla., w. to I. T. and Tex. 



* * Cells l-ovuled, 1-seeded; seeds smooth; spathe cucullate; roots subtuberous. 



3. C erecta L. Slender, often low ; leaves linear; cells all dehiscent, — Pa. 

 to Fla. and Tex. 



4. C» virginica L. Slender, usually tall ; leaves lanceolate to linear ; dorsal 

 cell indehiscent, scabrous. — Damp rich woods and banks, s. N. Y. to Fla., w. to 

 Mich., Kan., and Tex. 



BROMELlACEAE (Pinbapple Family) 



Herbs (or scarcely woody plants^ nearly all tropical), the greater part epi- 

 phytes, with persistent dry or fleshy and channeled crowded leaves, sheathing at 

 the base, usually covered with scurf, 



1, TILLANDSIA L. Long Moss 



Perianth plainly double, 6-parted ; the 3 outer divisions (sepals) membrana- 

 ceous ; the 3 inner (petals) colored ; all connivent below into a tube, spreading 

 above, lanceolate. Stamens 6, hypogynous or the alternate ones adhering to 

 the base of the petals ; anthers introrse. Ovary free; style thread-shaped ; 

 stigmas 3. Capsule cartilaginous, 3-celled. Seeds several or many in each cell, 

 anatropous, club-shaped, pointed, raised on a long hairy-tufted ^otalk, like a 

 coma. — Scurfy-leaved epiphytes. (Named for Prof. Tillands of Abo.) 



1. T. usneoides L. (Common Long Moss or Black Moss.) Stems thread- 



