562 CLVII. COMMELYNACE^:. COMMELYNA 



1. L. CAMPESTRIS. Willd. (Juncus. Linn.") Field Rush. 



Lvs. hairy ; spikes terminal, with or without peduncles ; Ifts. of the perianth 

 .anceolate, acuminate, awned, longer than the obtuse capsule. In meadows, 

 U. S. and Can. Stem simple, straight, 3 12' high, according to the moisture. 

 Leaves grass-like, 2 6' long, very hairy at the margins. Heads in a sort of 

 umbel, with an involucre of 2 or 3 short, unequal leaves. Perianth dark brown. 

 An early species, flowering in May. 



2. L. PILOSA. Willd. (Juncus. Linn.} Hairy Wood Rush. 



Lvs. pilose ; panicle cymose, spreading ; fls. solitary ; caps, obtuse. Com- 

 mon in woods and groves, Free States. Stem 4 10' high.' Radical leaves 

 numerous, 2 4' long, linear-lanceolate, veined, fringed with long, white hairs. 

 Panicle 8 12-flowered, with a leafy bract. Pedicels 510" long, finally de- 

 flexed. Perianth brown, with 2 green bracteoles. May. 



3. L. MELANOCARPA. Desv. (Juncus. Michx.} 



SI. elongated; Ivs. sublanceolate, glabrous; coryirib decompound; ped. 

 elongated, the branches with 3 5 pedicellate flowers ; sep. ovate, acuminate, 

 longer than the oval-triangular, obtuse-mucronate capsule. Native of the 

 White Hills, N. H., JBw. Stem 12 18' high. Radical leaves 8 10' by 35", 

 those of the stem much shorter, all very smooth. Panicle large, nodding, many- 

 flowered. Capsule black. June. 



4. L. SPICATA. DC. (Juncus. Willd.} 



Lvs. linear, hairy at the base ; spike cernuous, compound ; sep. acuminate- 

 awned, about equal in length to the subglobose capsule. White Hills, N. H., 

 Boott. Stem 8 10' high, slender, sinjple. Leaves 2 3' long, a line wide, 

 smooth except at the base. Spike an inch long. Aug. 



3. NARTHECIUM. Moehr. 



Gr. vapSriZ, a rod or wand ; in allusion to the slender inflorescence. 



Perianth 6-parted, colored, spreading, persistent ; stam. 6 ; fila- 

 ments hairy ; caps, prismatic, 3-celled ; seeds 00, ovate-oblong, appen- 

 daged at each extremity. ^ Root fibrous. Lvs. ensiform. Scape 

 nearly naked. Fls. yellow. 



N. AMERICANUM. Ker. (Phalangium ossifragum. Muhl.} 

 Lvs. radical, striate, narrow-ensiform ; scape simple, bracted ; roc. lax, in- 

 terrupted ; pedicels with a bract at base, and a setaceous bracteole near the 

 flower. An interesting little plant, in pine barrens and sandy swamps, Middle 

 States. Scapes 10 15' high, terete, with 2 or 3 subulate bracts. Leaves nume- 

 rous, much shorter than the scape. Pedicels 3 1" long. Perianth greenish 

 externally, yellow within, about half as long as the yellowish, mature capsule. 

 Aug. 



ORDER CLVII. COMMELYNACEJE. SPIDERWORTS. 



Herbs with flat, narrow leaves which are usually sheathing at base. 



Perianth in 2 series, the outer (calyx) of 3 herbaceous sepals, the inner (corolla) of 3 colored petals. 



Sta. 6, some of them usually deformed or abortive, hypogynous. 



Ova. 2 3-celled, cells few-ovuled. Styles and stigmas united into one. 



Fr. Capsule 2 3-celled, 2 3-valved; cells often but 2-seeded, with loculicidal dehiscence. 



Seeds few, with dense, fleshy albumen. Embryo opposite the hilum. 



Genera 16, species 260, chiefly natives of the Indies, Australasia and Africa, -a few of N. America. 

 They are of little importance to man. 



Genera. 



{ 3 or 4 of them sterile. Cmnmelyna. 1 

 Stamens 6, ( all perfect. . . Tradescantia. 2 



1. COMMELYNA. Pill. 



In honor of the brothers Commelyn, two German botanists. 



Sepals herbaceous; petals colored; stam. 6, 3 4 of them sterile 

 and furnished with cruciform glands ; caps. 3-celled, 3-valved, one of 

 the valves abortive. Lvs. lance-linear, with sheaths at base. Fls. en- 

 folded in a conduplicate, persistent, spathaceous bract, 



