Genus 2. 



BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY 



1763. 



2. Triantha racemosa (Walt.) Small. 

 Viscid Tofieldia. Fig. 1222. 



Melanthium racemosum Walt. Fl. Car. 126. 1788. 

 Narthecium pubens'Michx.. Fl. Bor. Amu 1 : 209. 1803. 

 Tofieldia racemosa B.S.P. Prel. Cat. N. Y. 55. 1888. ' 

 Triantha racemosa Small, Fl. SE. U. S. 249^ 1903. 



Similar to the preceding species but ' rather 

 stouter and taller, stem I°-3° high, the glutinous 

 pubescence rougher. Leaves very narrowly 

 linear, 6-18' long, ii"-3" wide; raceme 1-4' 

 long in flower, often loose, somewhat longer 

 in fruit, the uppermost flowers first expanding; 

 pedicels mostly clustered in 3's, ascending, a"-3" 

 long in fruit; involucral bractlets about 3" long, 

 united to above the middle, borne just beneath 

 the flower; perianth-segments narrowly obovate, 

 obtuse, rigid; capsule ovoid,, ii" long, little longer 

 than the calyx, its beaks I" long 1 ; seeds short- 

 tailed at each end. 



In swamps, southern New Jersey to Florida and 

 Alabama. This and the preceding species are also 

 known as False asphodel. June-Sept. 



3. ABAMA Adans.Fam. PI. 2: 47, 511. 



[Narthecium Juss. Gen. 47. 1789.] 

 Perennial herbs, with creeping or horizontal rootstocks, fibrous roots, erect simple 

 stems and linear .grass-like basal leaves, those of the stem short and distant. Flowers small, 

 greenish-yellow, perfect, borne in a terminal raceme. Pedicels bracted at base and usually 

 bearing a small bractlet. Perianth-segments persistent, linear or linear-lanceolate, obscurely 

 3-5-nerved, glandless. Stamens 6; filaments subulate, woolly; anthers linear-oblong, erect, 

 introrse. Ovary sessile; style very short or none; stigma slightly 3-lobed. Capsule oblong, 

 loculicidally dehiscent, many-seeded, the linear seeds tailed at each end. [Greek, signify- 

 ing without step, the plants, reputed to cause lameness in cattle.] 



Four known species, natives of the northern hemisphere. Besides the following, another 

 occurs in northwestern America.. Type species: Anthericum ossifragum L. 



i. Abama americana (Ker) Morong. Amer- 

 ican Bog-asphodel. Fig. 1223. 



Narthecium americanum Ker, Bot. Mag. pi. 1505. 1812. 

 Narthecium ossifragum var. americanum A. Gray, Man. Ed. 



5, 536. 1867. 

 Abama americana Morong, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 109. 1894. 



Glabrous, stems wiry, stiff, erect, io'-i8' tall. Basal 

 leaves 3'-8' long, 1" wide or less, finely 7-9-nerved ; 

 lower 'stem leaves ¥-2' long, the upper much smaller; 

 raceme r'-a' long, dense ; perianth-segments narrowly 

 linear, 2"-z" long, slightly exceeding_ the stamens; 

 filaments' white-woolly; pedicels ascending, 3"-4" long 

 ,, in fruit ; capsule about 5" long, 1" in diameter at the 

 middle, erect, nearly twice as long as the perianth- 

 iysegments, tapering to a subulate beak; seeds, including 

 the appendages, 3 '-4" long. 



In pine barren swamps, southern New Jersey and Dela- 

 ware. June-Sept. Yellow- or Moor-grass. Rosa-solis. 



■ XEROPHYLLUM Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 

 1: 210. 1803. 



Tall perennial herbs, with thick short woody .rootstocks, simple erecf leafy stems, the 

 leaves narrowly linear, rough-margined, the upper ones shorter than, the lower. Flowers 

 very numerous, medium-sized, white, in a large dense terminal raceme, the lower ones first 

 expanding. Perianth withering-persistent, its segments oblong or ovate, 5-7-nerved, spread- 

 ing, glandless. Stamens 6, rather shorter than the perianth-segments; filaments subulate, 

 glabrous; anthers oblong. Ovary sessile, 3-groOved; styles 3, filiform, reflexed or recurved, 

 stigmatic along the inner side.; ovules only 2-4 in each cell. Capsule ovoid, 3-grooved, loc- 

 ulicidally and sometimes also septicidally dehiscent. Seeds 5, oblong, not at all appendaged, 

 or only minutely so. [Greek, signifying a dry leaf.] 



Three species, the following, which is the type of the genus, the others of western America. 



