52 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



h. latifolia: foliis (paucioiibus) rigidioribus sursum latioribus nunc 

 spatulatis versus apicem sau'pius obtusatum abrupte mucronatuni cochlea- 

 to-concavis. — Y. concava. Haw. suppl. 34. 



Var. R flaccida : acaulis; foliis (pluribuR), lineari-lanceolatismoUibus 

 flaccidis dem'um irregulariter decurvatis refractisve glaucescentibus vix 

 scabrellis subinermibus margine filis tenuissimis abunde ornatis ; scapo 

 bracteis brevibus spatulatis instructo panicula: nuncpuberulae ajquilongo; 

 ovario versus basin irregulariter angulatam angustato, stigmatibus bre- 

 vioribus conniventibus sursum attenuatis; capsula majore saepius con- 

 stricta angulata sursum profunde triloba, seminibus majoribus. — T. 

 fiaccida, Haw. suppl. 34.'' Refug. bot. 5, t. 323? 



Var. .' --_ bracteata : subacaulis; foliis (plurimis) lineari-lanceolatis 

 rigidlusculis scabrellis mucrorfe debili aristatis abunde filiferis, exteriori- 

 bus demum nundatis laxis ; scapo bractjis foliaceis majoribus infra medium 

 latioribus sensim angustatis fere inibricato flexuoso quam panicula ramis 

 ascendentibus pjramidata asperula seu puberula multo longiore : stami- 

 nibus ovarium fere ;equantibus ; stigmatibus profunde divisis elongatis.; 

 •capsula prismatica ovatave. 



Var. ? ^. IcBvigata : subacaulis; foliis (paucioribus) lanceolalo-linea- 

 ribus elongatis fere planis la;vibus rigide pungentibus margine mox 

 denudatis laxis deflexis demum decumbentibus ; scapo bracteis lanciformi- 

 bus e medio sensim angustatis instructo quam panicula ramis ascendenti- 

 bus laxifloris pyramidata hcvissima multo longiore; ovario staminibus 

 breviore stigmatibus ad basin divisis rectis ?equilongo ; capsula prismatica. 



This most variable plant is a native of the coast region of the south- 

 eastern btates from Maryland, W. M. Canby, to Florida, Alabama, and, 

 according to Riddell's Cat., to Louisiana. — Numerous varieties, oflen 

 difficult to class, have been described in European gardens. 



Linnaeus' diagnosis: foliis lanceolatis acuminatis together with th* 

 Hab. Virginia, points to the narrow-leaved form of what I have described 

 as the genuine plant, as the one he and Gronovius had in view. Of this 

 and other forms numerous specimens and full notes have been obtained 

 from Dr. Mellichamp, of South Carolina, on which the following descrip- 

 tions are based. 



The genuine plant has a short trunk of 2-5 inches or a foot, (Chapm. 

 Fl. 475), stifFer, rougher, " reed-like," dull green leaves and smaller cap- 

 sules than any other variety, and blooms earlier, in S. Carolina in May, 

 in gardens of St. Louis in the first weeks of June. — The narrow-leaved 

 form makes tufts of 6o-8aor 100 leaves, 16 or 18-20 and zi inches long, i-i^ 

 rarely \\ inches wide, widest about the middle, tapering to a hard ob- 

 tusish point, with numerous, rather thin, curly fibres. The broad-leaved 

 variety has only 30-60 leaves, 20-24 inches long. 2-3 inches wide about 

 the upper third, and broad to the almost obtuse blunt tip; outer shorter 

 leaves often broad-spatulate and quite obtuse; margin with fewer, coarser, 

 more curly threads. The scape of both forms is 4-8 or 9 feet high, stout, 

 very soft and smooth, pale green, below with oblique, spatulate bracts, 2, 

 rarely 3 inches long; panicle with numerous nearly horizontal dense- 



