DIOSCOREA. CL. DIOSCOREACE^. 543 



5 6' broad, yellow, variegated with scarlet, crimson and purple. It is very 

 evanescent, lasting but a few hours, but a new one appears daily for several 

 weeks. It ripens seeds, from which, or from offsets, it may be increased. Jl. Sept.f 



5. SISYRINCHIUM. 



Gr. avs, a hog, and pvyx s > a snout; alluding to the singular spathe. 



Spathe 2-leaved ; segments of the perianth flat, equal ; stamens 

 monadelphous ; stigma 3-cleft. "A- Grass-like plants, with compressed, 

 ancipital scapes. 



1. S. ANCEPS. (S. gramineum. Lam.} Blue-eyed Grass. 



Scape simple, winged; valves of the spathe unequal, the longer scarcely 

 equaling the flowers; pet. mucronate. A delicate little plant, with blue flowers, 

 common in low grass-lands, Can. and U. S. Stem or scape 10 12' high, so 

 winged as to resemble the leaves, smooth and mostly simple. Leaves linear, 

 about as long as the scape, sheathing at base. Spathe 2 5-flowered, the longer 

 valve acuminate. Flowers purple or blue, on filiform pedicels. Sepals a little 

 broader than the petals, spreading. Capsules globose. Jn. Jl. 

 2. S. MUCRONATUM. Michx. Blue-eyed Grass. 



Scape simple, subsetaceous ; spathe colored, outer valve longer than the 

 flowers, ending in a long, mucronate point. Middle States, W. to Ky. Found 

 in wet meadows, where the grass is not luxuriant. ' Leaves radical, a line wide. 

 Scape 6 10' high, narrowly winged, setaceously slender. Spathe of 2 very 

 unequal valves, 3 4-flowered, tinged with purple. Flowers smaller than in 

 the preceding, of a fine blue color. Jn. 



6. CROCUS. 



Named from the youth Crocus, who, according to Grecian mythology, was changed into this flower. 



Perianth funnel-form, the segments united at base into a long and 

 slender tube ; stigma 3-cleft, convolute, crested. Spathe radical, 1 2- 

 leaved, thin, transparent. The long tube of the flower nearly or quite ses- 

 sile upon the bulb. After flowering, the ovary arises from the ground 

 by the growth of the scape, to ripen its seeds in the sun. 



1. C. SATIVUS. Saffron. Lvs. linear, revolute at the margins; stig. 3-parted, 

 as long as the corolla, reflexed. From Asia. Stem bulbous. Leaves radical, 

 with a longitudinal, white furrow above. -Flower nearly or quite sessile on the 

 bulb, with a long, white tube, and purple, elliptical segments. Stigmas long, 

 emarginate, exsert, of a deep orange-color. Its virtues, both medicinal and 

 coloring, reside chiefly in the large stigmas. Sept. A variety, perhaps the 

 most common, has yellow perianths. 



2. C. VERNUS. Spring Crocus. Stig. included within the flower, with 3, 

 short, wedge-shaped segments. Native of the Alps. Stem bulbous. Scape an 

 inch or two high, 3-sided. Flowers vary in color, generally purple, often yel- 

 low or white ; tube very long, slender, gradually enlarged upwards, closed at the 

 mouth with a circle of hairs, limb campanulate, much shorter than the tube. 

 Anthers yellow, sagittate. Flowers in March or April. The Crocus is propa- 

 gated in gardens chiefly by bulbs, j- 



ORDER CL. DIOSCOREACEJE. YAM ROOTS. 



Shmbs, twining. Lvs. usually alternate and reticulate-veined. 



Fls dioecious Perianth tube adherent to the ovary ; segments ot limb 6, in 2 series. 



Sterile. Sta. 6, inserted into the base of the sepals and petals. 



fertile.. Ova. 3-celled. cells i 2-ovuled. Style* and stigmas nearly distinct. 



jy .capsule 3-winged, compressed, 2 of the cells sometimes abortive. 



Stis. flat, compressed. Embryo small, in cartilaginous albumen. 



Genera 6, species 110. The only remarkable or useful product of this order is yams, an important article 

 of food in all tropical countries. They are the large, mucilaginous, sweetish tubers of Dioscorea saliva, &c. 



DIOSCOREA. 



In honor of Pedacius Dioscorides, a Greek Physician and florist of about the reign of Nero. 



Flowers & 9: styles of the fertile flowers 3 ; cells of the capsule 

 46* 



