720 Order 162.— COMMBLTNACE^. 



countries. St3. many, 3 to 8' long. Lva. few, 1 to 2' long. Fls. many, seound. 

 Jn. — Aug. 



21 J. G-reenii Oakea 4; Tuokm. Scape tall, subterete, striato ; Ivs. fijiform-seta- 

 ceous, sublerete, scarcely channeled, shorter than the scape, with sheathing base ; 

 panicle dense, branches subereot ; bracts setaceous, one of tliem much longer than 

 the panicle ; fls. single, approximate ; Sep. ovate, acute, twice s!wrier than the tri- 

 angular-acute, shining caps. — Wet grounds, R. I., Mass. (Ricard). A handsome 

 rush, 1 to 2f high, rigid, strict. Lva. nil radical Panicle 2 to 3' long, one of Ihtj 

 bracts twice longer, the other twice shorter. Caps. 2" long, reddish brown. 



22 J. tenuis WiUd. St. scape-like, slender, erect; Ivs. subradical, linear-seta.- 

 ceous, sliorter than the stem ; bracts 2 — 3, much longer than the panicle ; fls. 

 single, approximate, green; sep. acuminate, longer than the svhglohous-triangidar 

 capsule. — A very common rush, about foot-paths and roadsides, and in fields and 

 meadows, IJ. S. and Can. Stems wirj', G — 24' high. Leaves very narrow, 3 — 8' 

 long. Panicle subfasciculato, 5 — 10-(lowered, varying to subumbellato and 20 — 

 30-flowered, the rays very unequal. Jn., Jl. 



B. mcu6T0Jtus. Panicle regularly forlxd once or twice, branches erect, in- 

 curved, with the contiguous fls. regularly distychous ; sep. scarcely longer 

 than the capsule.— Waysides, SomeiTillc, Mass., also South. (J. dichotomvis. 

 Ell.) 



23 J. bulbosus L. j3. GeR-IEDI. St. very slender, compressed; Ivs. mostly 

 radical, linear-setaceous, shorter than the stem ; panicle small, few-flowered, sub- 

 trichotomous, longer than the bracts ; fls. separate, approximate by pairs or 3a, 

 dark-colored : sep. equal, acute, incurved, rather shorter than the suliglobous, obtuse, 

 caps. — A common rush, in salt marshes, N. J. to tlie Arc. Sea, usually with dark 

 green foliage and brown capsules. Sts. not bulbous, tufted, erect, or decumbent 

 and atoloniferoua, 1 to 2f high, tough and wiry. Lvs. 3 to 8' long, bracts 6 to 

 12"- Ifls. 12 or more, at length brown or blackish. Jl, Aug. — It makes good 

 hay. 



Order CLII. COMMELYNACEJS. Spiderworts. 



Herbs with flat, narrow leaves which are usually eheatliing at base. Perianth of 



2 series, the outer of 3 herbaceous sepals, the inner of 3 colored petals. Stamens 



6, some of them usually deformed or abortive, hypogynous. Ovary 2 to 3-cellod, 



cells few-ovuled. Style and stigma united into one. Caijsule 2 to 3-celled, 2 to 3- 



valved ; ceUs often but 2-seeded, with loculicidal dehiscence. Seeds few, with dense, 



fleshy albumen. Embryo opposite the hilum. Figa. 584, 502. 



Oenera 16, ftpecies 2G0, chiefly nutives of the Indies, Anstralift and Africa, a few N. America- 

 They arc of little importance to man. The anomalous genus, Mayaca, constitutes an order by 

 itself In Kunth. 



GESTEEA. 



§ Flowers Irregnlar, clustered in a spathc-Iike, cordate, flor.il leaf Co-umkltna. 1 



§ Flowens rejjul.ir, clustered ; floral leaves like the rest. Stamens 6 Ti-.adescantia. 'J 



§ Flowers regular, solitary, axillary stamens 3. Moss-lilte herbs Mayaoa. 3 



1. COMMELY'NA, Dill. (In lionor of the brothers Commelyn, Ger- 

 man botanists.) Fls. irregular ; sepals herbaceous, petals colored ; 

 stamens 6, 3 of tbcm sterile and furnished with cruciform glands for 

 anthers ; capsule 3-celled, 3-valved, one of the valves abortive. — L\s. 

 lance-linear with sheaths at base. Fls. enfolded in a conduplicate, per- 

 sistent, spathaceous, cordate bract, erect in flower, recurved before and 

 after. Petals blue, open but a few hours. 



* Prostrate spathe opposite the leaves, complicate, base-lobes free Nos. 1, 3 



* Krect or ascending. Spathe subterminal, — complicate, subpeltato No. '^ 



— cucullate-peltnte Mos. 4, .'.> 



1 C. commiinis L. Procumbent, much branched ; branchlets marked with a hairy 

 Une; Ivs. sessile, ovaie-Vmceolaie, acmninate, founded a^ base, margin finely sen a- 



