16 ELEMENTS OP BOTANY. 



(I. versicolor), Blue Flag. Stem 2-3 ft. high, rather stout. 

 Flowers pretty large, blue, with green and yellow markings and 

 purple veining. Pod large, triangular. 



n. SISYRHINCHIUM, BLUE-ETED GRASS, 

 STAR-EYED GRASS. 



Perianth 6-parted, the spreading divisions all alike. Sta- 

 mens monadelphous. Stigmas three-cleft, very slender. Small 

 grass-like perennials with pretty, quickly withering flowers 

 borne on slender scapes. 



a. (S. angustifolium), Smaller Blue-eyed Grass. Scape 

 4-12 in. high, usually unbranched and bearing a single cluster of 

 blue flowers from a solitary spathe. 



6. (S. anceps), Larger Blue-eyed Grass. Scape 6-18 in. 

 high, usually branched, and bearing 2 or more spathes. 



III. CROCUS, CROCUS. 



Flowers sessile on the corm ; tube of the perianth very long 

 and slender, its divisions all alike or nearly so ; stigmas 3- 

 cleft ; leaves proceeding from the corm. 



(C. VERNUS), Spring Crocus. Stigmas short ; flowers white, 

 blue, or purple, leaves linear. Cultivated from Europe. 



ORCHIDACEiE, ORCHIS FAMILY. 



Perennial herbs with perfect flowers (often extraordinarily 

 irregular), perianth of 6 divisions, adnate to the 1-celled ovary, 

 which contains an immense number of ovules. The stamens 

 are one or two in number and united with the pistil ; pollen 

 of comparatively few grains held together in masses by cob- 

 web-like threads. 



The family is a difficult one, and most of the genera are 

 so rare that specimens should not be collected in large numbers 

 for class study. Two of the most familiar genera are Cyp- 

 ripedium or lady' s slipper, and Spiranthes or lady's tresses. 

 Many of the genera are tropical air-plants, like Fig. 13. 



