YELLOW-EYED GRASS FAMILY. 351 



two former by the full-developed petals, the latter by. the sn^ler or abortive 



petal.) Ours are branching perennials, or Continued by rooting from the 



joints ; in alluvial or moist shady soil : fl. all summer. 



C. er6eta. From Penn. S. & W. : stem erect, 2°-4° high ; leave lance- 

 oblong, 3'-7' long, the margins rough backwards, and sheaths fringed with 

 bristles ; spathes crowded, nooded, top-shaped in fruit ; odd petal like the 

 others but smaller. 



C. Virginica. From S. New York S. & W. : stems reclining and root- 

 ing at base; leaves oblong-lanceolate or narrower; spathes scattered, condu- 

 plicate, round-heart-shaped when laid open ; odd petal inconspicuous. 



2. TKADESCANTIA, SPIDERWOllT. (Named for the gardener- 

 botanist Tradescant.) Leaves sheathed at the base. y. 



* Wild species of moist or rich woods, one ven/ common in gardens: with erect 

 stems, linear or lanceolate keeled leaves, the uppermost nearli/ like the others. 



*- Umbels sessile at the end of the stem and brandies between a pair of leaves, 

 or later also in the tower axils : flowering in summer. 



T. Virginica. Common wild from W. New York W. & S., and in gar- 

 dens ; leaves lance-linear, tapering regularly from the base to the point, ciliate ; 

 umbels terminal ; flowers blue, in garden varieties purple or white. 



T. pil6sa. Chiefly W. : 2° or more high, with zigzag stem, more or less 

 pubescent leaves lanceolate from a narrowish base, very dense terminal and 

 axjiUary umbels of smaller and later purple-blue flowers, and hairy calyx and 

 pedicels. 



t-i^ Umbels one or two on a naked peduAcle. 



T. r6sea. Sandy woods chiefly S. & W. : slender, 6'- 12' high, smooth, 

 with linear grass-like leaves, and rose-colored flowers J' wide. 

 * * Conservatory species from tTte tropics. 



T. zebrina, the only one common, spreads by branching and rooting 

 freely, rarely blossoms, is cult, for its foliage; the lance-ovate or oblong 

 rather succulent leaves crimson beneath, and green or purplish above, varie- 

 gated with two broad stripes of silvery white. 



127. XYRIDACEJB, YELLOW-EYED GRASS F. 



Eush-like herbs, with equitant leaves, like Sedges, or rather Bul- 

 rushes, in having flowers in a head or spike one under each firm 

 glume-like bract, but with a regular perianth of 3 sepals and 3 col- 

 dred (yellow) petals ; also a 1-celled many-seeded ovary and pod 

 with 3 parietal placentae, somewhat as in the Rush Family, repre- 

 sented by 



X^ris flexubsa, Common Yellow-eyed Grass, of sandy bogs. Scape 

 4' -16' high; head roundish ; lateral sepals glume-like lance-oblong, boat- 

 shaped, wingless ; the anterior one larger, membranaceous, enwrappmg the 

 corolla in the bud and deciduous with it; petals 3, with claws, alternating with 

 3 sterile bearded or plumose filaments and bearing on their base 3 naked fila- 

 ments with linear anthers ; style 3-cleft. "21 



X. Caroliniiina, the commonest of several Southern species ; also N. : 

 l°-2° high, the scape 2-edged at top, bearing a larger head (about ■}' long), 

 lateral sepals winged but nearly naked on the keel. ^ 



X flmbriita, from pine barrens of New Jersey S. : 2° high, with oblong 

 head 'almost 1' long, the lateral sepals fringed on the keel. Ti 



