ENDOGENS. 39 



merous or 3-merous. Style lateral or tasal ; sd. minute ; emb. ob- 

 scure ; perisperm dense. Minute, slender, leafless, white, discolored 

 herbs, on mossy banks and dead Ivs., tropical forests of Asia and Am. 

 4 gen. : 1. Sciaphila, Asia. 2. Soridium. 3. Hexuris (perianth lobes 

 6-tailed). 4. Triuris, 3-tailed, America. 



Division 2. — Ovary adherent (free in some Bromeliacese and Haemo- 

 doracese). No subdivisions. 



Ord. 89. Hydrocharideae. Peogbits. — (Closely allied to Pond- 

 weed Alliance ; thus making a continuous chain from the most simple 

 (Najas) to the most complex (Hydrocharis) of Endogens. But in 

 Hydrocharis the ovary is adherent and syncarpous.) Fls. qj* 9i rarely 

 § . Perianth of 6 segments, 2-seriate, inner series petaloid. Stamens 

 and stigmas 3, or a multiple of 3. Pr. submerged, fleshy, 1-celled, 

 00-seeded ; testa elegantly clothed with cylindric cells. Perisperm 0. 

 Aquatic Herbs, submerged or floating ; rhiz. edible. 3 Tribes ; types 

 only given here. 1. Hydrocharis Mbrsus^dnce, Frogbit. ^ $. 

 Pis. white, sol., pedicelled; Ivs. ensiform, petiolate. Elegant little 

 floating plants ; ditches, ponds, backwaters. Eur. 2. Vallisneria 

 spiralis, &SL-Qr-B,ASS. J*?. Described, Lesson XXXIII., 418; Fig. 

 244. Z. AnkcTaaris canadense. Polygamo-dioscious ; Ivs. linear, opp., 

 or whorled on the elongated branching stems. Submerged ; habit 

 of Vallisneria. Common, U. S. ; naturalized in Gt. Brit., and there 

 troublesome. 



Ord. 30. DioscoreaceEe, Yams. — (^ $. Fls. racemed. Peren- 

 nial Herbs or Undershrubs, stem twining ; resembling Smilax in fls., fr., 

 and If. j but with herbaceous perianth ; ova. adh. , fr. a caps. , rarely a 

 berry, and Ivs. sometimes opp. Perisperm copious, dense. Khiz. or 

 root thick, fleshy, edible ; deeply subterranean ; sometimes epigeal 

 (Testudinaria). 7 gen., 160 spec, chiefly in southern tropical regions. 



1. Testudinaria, rhiz. epigeal. 2 species, Cape of Good Hope. T. 

 elephdntipes, Elbphant-Foot, Hottkntot-Brbad, ToRTOiSE-PLAifT ; 

 rhiz. huge, with cracked bark, resembling the foot of an elephant, or 

 the back of a tortoise ; bearing many stems. 40° high. Ornamental. 

 Fr. capsular. 2. Dioscorea, Yam. Lvs. usually alt., sometimes opp. ; 

 fr. capsular, 3-oelled. 150 species. Am., Asia, 12 in Af., 4 in Australia; 

 producing the Yams of commerce, — white, pink, pui-ple, or black, 

 according to species, and often weighing 40 lbs. D. saima, E. Ind., 

 cultivated in S. States ; lvs. opp., 9-13-nerved, handsome ; badly drawn 

 In Pig. 89. D. Batatas (japoniea), Chikesb Y. ; rts. deeply subt., 

 edible; lvs. opp., with bulbs in the axils. Ornamental. D. mllosa, 

 Wild Y. ; rhiz. knotty. Common, S. States. 3. Rayana (Rajana) ; 

 similar, but caps. 1-celled. West Ind. 4. Tamus ; similar, but fr. a 

 berry. 2 spec. ; T. communis, Black Bryony, ttt. Brit. ; T. cretiea, 

 lvs. 3-lobed ; Greece and Archipelago. 



Narcissus Alliance. — Fls. § . Perianth reg. or irreg., segments 

 2-seriate. Ova. 3-celled. Fr. a caps., sometimes a berry. Perisperm 

 copious, fleshy, or horny. 31. Velloziaceae. 32. Hsemodoraceae. 33, 

 Amaryilidaceae. 34. Iridacese. 



Ord. 31. Velloziaceae. — Fls. g, 6-merous, reg., large, sol. on a 

 scape, handsome. Fr. a caps. ; emb. extruded. Lvs. long, linear. 

 Stem resinous, dichotomously branched, 2°-12° high, lvs. crowning 

 the branches. 2 gen. : 1. Vellozia, fls. white, blue, violet. Sev. 

 spec, chiefly in Brazil, but found in Madagascar, Arabia, Abyssinia. 



