BURMANNIACEJ3. (BURMANNIA FAMILY.) 451 



1 . V. spiralis, L. Slow-flowing streams and ponds, Florida, and north- 

 ward. July - Sept. 1|. Plant creeping, proliferous. Leaves strap-shaped, 

 obtuse, 5-9-nerved, sharply serrulate x l-3 long, 6" -12" wide. Scape of 

 the sterile flowers 1'- 4' long, of the fertile ones 2 - 5 long. Fruit 1'- 3' long, 

 often curved. 



3. LIMNOBIUM, Richard. 



Flowers monoecious, from a membranaceous mostly sessile spathe, peduncled. 

 Sterile spathe entire, 2-3-flowered; the fertile 3-leaved, 1-flowercd. Sepals 

 and petals 3, united in the fertile flower, and coherent with the ovary. Stamens 

 6 - 12, monadelphous : anthers linear. Ovary 6 - 9-celled, with as many central 

 placenta;, forming a many-seeded berry in fruit. Stigmas 6-9, each 2-parted. 

 A floating aquatic herb, with copious pendent roots, long-petioled round- 

 cordate and many-nerved leaves, and small white flowers. 



I . L. Spongia, Eichard. Stems extensively proliferous ; leaves purplish 

 beneath, and with air-cells near the base ; sterile peduncles tender, soon vanish- 

 ing ; the fertile ones commonly short and thick, recurved in fruit ; petals oblong, 

 alternating in the fertile flower with a pair of minute sterile filaments. (Hydro- 

 charis spongiosa, Bosc.) Still water, Florida, and northward. July and Aug. 

 . Leaves 2' - 4' wide. 



ORDER 141. BURMANNIACEJ2. (BURMANNIA FAMILY.) 



Small herbs, with filiform stems, scale-like leaves, and regular perfect 

 flowers. Sepals and petals united to form a tubular unequally 6-cleft 

 corolla-like perianth, with the tube coherent with the 1 or 3-celled many- 

 ovuled ovary. Stamens 3 or 6, inserted on the tube of the perianth: 

 anther-cells separate, 2-lobed, opening crosswise. Style slender : stigmas 

 3, dilated. Placentae 3, central or parietal. Capsule many-seeded. Seeds 

 minute, with a loose or reticulated testa. 



1. BURMANNIA, L. 



Tube of the perianth mostly 3-angled or 3-winged, 6-cleft, withering-persist- 

 ent ; the three interior lobes smaller. Stamens 3, very short, inserted opposite 

 the interior lobes of the perianth. Ovary 3-celled, with three thick 2-lobed cen- 

 tral placentas. Stigmas globose, dilated or 2-lobed. Capsule splitting at the 

 apex into 3 valves. Radical leaves crowded and grass-like, or none ; those of 

 the stem minute, scale-like. Flowers racemose or clustered. 



1. B. biflora, L. Stem simple, or forked above, 1 - several-flowered ; leaves 

 subulate, scattered ; perianth blue, broadly 3-winged, the exterior lobes erect, 

 ovate, acute, the interior linear and incurved; seeds oblong, striate. (Tripte- 

 rella coerulea, Michx.) Grassy or mossy margins of swamps and ponds, Flor- 

 ida to North Carolina. Sept. -Nov. Stem l'-5' high. In this and the 

 following species the seeds escape through irregular fissures at the sides of the 

 capsule. 



