Genus 15. 



LILY FAMILY. 



513 



3. Yucca filamentosa L. Adam's Needle. Silk- 

 or Bear-grass. Fig. 1279. 



Yucca filamentosa L. Sp. PI. 319. 1753. 



Caudex very short, or sometimes i° high. Leaves 

 lanceolate, narrowed above the broad base, acuminate 

 and sharp-pointed, flat, roughish, i°-2i° long, 0/-2' 

 wide; scape 2°-io° high; panicle large, its branches 

 divergent or ascending, the lower .often i° long or 

 more; flowers numerous; perianth-segments i¥-2.l' 

 long, ovate ; stigmas slender, but shorter than the ovary ; 

 pedicels rarely more than i' long; capsule oblong, 1F-2' 

 long, about 10" thick. 



In sandy soil, Maryland to Florida, Tennessee and Louisi- 

 ana. Much cultivated for ornament. Escaped from 

 gardens in southern Pennsylvania. Bear's-thread, thread- 

 and-needle. Eve's-darning-needle. May-July. 



Family 23. CONVALLARIACEAE Link. Handb. 1 : 184. 1829. 



Lily-of-the-Valley Family. 



Scapose or leafy-stemmed herbs, with simple or branched rootstocks, never 

 with bulbs or corms. Flowers solitary, racemose, panicled or umbelled, regular 

 and perfect. Leaves broad, parallel-veined and sometimes with cross-veinlets, 

 alternate, verticillate or basal, or in Asparagus and its allies reduced to scales 

 bearing filiform or flattened branchlets in their axils. Perianth inferior, 4-6- 

 parted with separate segments, or oblong, cylindric or urn-shaped and 6-lobed 

 or 6-toothed. Stamens 6, rarely 4, hypogynous or borne on the perianth ; anthers 

 introrsely, extrorsely or laterally dehiscent. Ovary 2-3-celled, superior ; ovules 

 anatropous or amphitropous ; style slender or short ; stigma mostly 3-lobed. Fruit 

 a fleshy berry, rarely a capsule. Seeds few or numerous. Embryo small. 



About 23 genera and 215 species, widely distributed. 



Leaves reduced to scales ; leaf-like bractlets filiform. 

 Leaves broad ; stems simple or somewhat branched. 

 Leaves basal ; flowers umbelled or solitary. 

 Leaves alternate (solitary in flowerless plants of no. 4). 

 Perianth-segments separate. 



Flowers racemed, umbelled, panicled or solitary, terminal. 

 Flowers racemed or panicled. 

 Perianth-segments 6. 

 Perianth-segments 4. 

 Flowers umbelled or solitary. 

 Fruit a berry. 

 Fruit a capsule. 

 Flowers solitary or two together, axillary. 

 Perianth cylindric or oblong, 6-toothed. 

 Leaves nearly basal ; flowers racemed ; perianth 6-toothed. 



1. Asparagus. 



2. Clintonia. 



3. Vagnera. 



4. Unifolium. 



5. Disporum. 



6. Uvularia. 



7. Streptopus. 



8. Polygonatum. 

 g. Convallana. 



i. ASPARAGUS L. Sp. PL 313. 1753. 



Stem at first simple, fleshy, scaly, at length much branched; the branchlets filiform and 

 mostly clustered in the axils of the scales in the following species, flattened and • linear, 

 lanceolate or ovate in .some others. Flowers small, solitary, umbelled or racemed. Peri- 

 anth-segments alike, separate or slightly united at the base. Stamens inserted at the bases 

 of the perianth-segments; filaments mostly filiform; anthers ovate or oblong, introrse. 

 Ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules 2 in each cavity; style slender, short; stigmas 3, short, re- 

 curved. Berry globose. Seeds few, rounded. [Ancient Greek name.] 



About 100 species, natives of the Old World, the following being the generic type. 



33 



