108 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST ; 
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ROOTS: The root-system resembles a slender, mostly re- 
peated many-branched, creeping rhizome. It is light brown 
or yellowish and more or less densely covered by micorhiza, 
the main strands being about 1 mm. thick. 
SCAPE: The scapes, underground part included, are from 
4.5 to 10 em. high and mainly 4-8 mm. thick. The average 
scapes vary from 5-8 cm. in height and even vigorous ones 
almost invariably do not exceed 9.5 cm. The scape is of a 
succulent-waxy texture and like all parts of the plant, gla- 
brous. The number of scales varies exceedingly in different 
specimens—from a few to more than fifty—and are either 
remote, approximate, or more or less densely imbricated. 
They are 4-10 mm. long, ovate, ovate-oblong or linear-oblong, 
but are occasionally of a broad type, especially the lower 
ones, which are deltoid-ovate to orbicular-ovate. The apex 
is obtuse or acute, the sessile base truncate and the margin 
entire or slightly erose near the apex. Their texture is suc- 
culent but sooner or later, they generally become membranous. 
INFLORESCENCE: The inflorecence is racemose but in 
apearance ranges from head-like to spike-like; it is one-sided, 
conspicuously bracted and bracteolate, 1-16 (more often 4-13) 
flowered. The rachis, from lowest to uppermost bract is 0.5-1.5 
cm. long—somewhat longer in extraordinary cases—but never 
exceeding 2.3 cm. The length of the rachis is independent of 
the number of flowers and may be less than 1 cm? in a 
12-flowered inflorescence. The bracts are 8-11 mm. long, 5-8 
mm. wide, ovate-accuminate to orbicular-accuminate, entire, 
erose, erose-denticulate or erose-laciniate above the middle. 
The two bractlets at the base of the pedicel are somewhat 
shorter than the bracts, mainly oblanceolate, and more fre- 
quently erose. Occasionally from one to three additional 
bractlets may be present and these are then distributed along 
the pedicel. In texture the bracts and bractlets are succulent 
but in most cases become membranous. The pedicels are 
2-10 (mostly 4-8) mm. long. 
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