MELANTHACE^. (COLCHICUM FAMILY.) 491 



Stigmas decurrent within. Capsule roundish, 3-lobed, loculicidally 3-valved. 

 Seeds 2 in each cell, collateral, oblong, wingless. — Stem bulbous at the base, 

 simple, leafy. Leaves dry, rigid, rough on the margins, veiy narrow, dilated at 

 the base ; those of the stem very numerous and needle-shaped. Flowers white, 

 in a simple dense raceme. 



1. X. asphodeloides, Gray. (Helonias asphodeloides, Z.) — Dry sandy 

 soil. North Carolina, and northward. May and June. — Stem 3° - 5° high. 

 Radical leaves spreading, 1° or more long, very slender-pointed. Flowers 2" 

 long. Stamens dilated below. 



U. CHAM^LIRIUM, Willd. 



Flowers dioecious. Leaves of the perianth linear-spatulate, shorter than the 

 filiform filaments. Anthers 2-celled, roundish. Styles club-shaped : stigmas 

 decurrent. Capsule ovoid, 3-angled, loculicidally 3-valved, many-seeded. Seeds 

 linear-oblong, winged at the ends. — Stem simple, from a thick rhizoma, leafy. 

 Lowest leaves spatulate or obovate, the others linear or lanceolate. Flowers 

 small, white, in a simple spiked raceme. 



1. C. luteum, Gray. (Helonias dioica, Pui-s^.) — Low grounds, Florida, 

 and northward. May and June. — Stem l°-2° high, furrowed. Radical leaves 

 clustered, 2' -4' long, spreading; the uppermost small and bract-like. Racemes 

 6'- 12' long, the sterile ones slender and drooping at the summit; the fertile 

 rigid and erect. Perianth inconspicuous. 



12. PLEEA, Michx. 



Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth sessile, widely spreading, lanceolate, 

 rigid. Stamens 9-12, shorter than the perianth : filaments slender : anthers 

 linear, introrse, 2-cleft at the base, versatile. Styles short, subulate . stigmas 

 simple. Capsule coriaceous, ovate, 3-lobed, many-seeded ; the cells opening 

 down the inner suture. Seeds oblong, bristle-pointed. — Stems smooth and 

 slender, from clustered rootstocks. Leaves chiefly radical, very narrow, 2-edged, 

 equitant. Flowers few in a simple raceme, white. Bracts spathe-like, clasping. 



1. P. tenulfolia, Michx. — Pine-barren swamps and bogs, Florida to 

 North Cai-olina. Oct. — Stem rush-like, 2° high. Radical leaves erect, rigid, 

 perennial, 6' - 9' long. Raceme rigid, 6 - 9-flowered, the erect pedicels enclosed 

 in the rigid clasping bracts. Flowers 1' wide, greenish without. 



13. TOPIELDIA, Hudson. 



Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth spreading, sessile, oblong or obovate. 

 Filaments subulate • anthers innate or introrse, 2-celled. Styles subulate : stig- 

 mas terminal. Capsule 3-angIed, septicidally 3-partible, many-seeded. Seeds 

 oblong. — Stems simple, scape-like, from creeping rootstocks. Leaves linear, 

 2-edged, equitant. Flowers small, whitish, in spikes or racemes. Pedicels 

 commonly minutely 3-bracted under the flower. 



