520 



CONVALLARIACEAE. 



Vol. I. 



7. STREPTOPUS Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 200. 1803. 



Branching herbs, with stout or slender rootstocks, thin sessile or clasping alternate 

 many-nerved leaves, the flowers solitary or 2 together, extra-axillary, slender-peduncled, 

 greenish or purplish, small, nodding. Peduncles bent or twisted at about the middle. 

 Perianth somewhat campanulate, its 6 separate segments recurved or spreading, deciduous, 

 the outer flat, the inner keeled. Stamens 6, hypogynous; filaments short, flattened; anthers 

 sagittate, extrorse. Ovary 3-celled; ovules numerous in 2 rows in each cavity; style slender, 

 3-cleft, 3-lobed or entire. Berry globose or oval, red, many-seeded. [Greek, twisted-stalk, 

 in reference to the bent or twisted peduncles.] 



About 5 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, another occurs 

 on the Pacific Coast. Type species : Streptopus roseus Michx. 



Leaves glaucous beneath, clasping ; flowers greenish-white. 

 Leaves green on both sides, sessile ; flowers purple or rose. 



1. S. amplexifolius. 



2. S. roseus. 



i. Streptopus amplexifolius (L.) DC. 

 Clasping-leaved Twisted-stalk. Liver- 

 berry. Fig. 1293. 



Uvularia amplexifolia L. Sp. PI. 304. 1753. 

 Streptopus amplexifolius DC. Fl. France 3: 174. 

 1805. 



Rootstock short, stout, horizontal, covered 

 with thick fibrous roots. Plant ii°-3° high; 

 stem glabrous, usually branching below the 

 middle, leaves 2'-$' long, i'-2' wide, acumi- 

 nate at the apex, cordate-clasping at the base, 

 glabrous, glaucous beneath; peduncles i'-2' 

 long, 1-2-flowered; flowers greenish white, 4"- 

 6" long; perianth-segments narrowly lanceo- 

 late, acuminate; anthers subulate-pointed; 

 stigma simple, obtuse or truncate; berry oval, 

 S"-8" long. 



In moist woods, Greenland to Alaska, south to 

 North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan and New Mexico. 

 Ascends to 4000 ft. in the Adirondacks. May- 

 July. 



2. Streptopus roseus Michx. Sessile- 

 leaved Twisted-stalk. Fig. 1294. 



Streptopus roseus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 201. 



1803. 

 Streptopus longipes Fernald, Rhodora 8 : 71. 1906. 



Plant i°-2i° high, from a short stout 

 rootstock covered with fibrous roots, some- 

 times stoloniferous. Branches sparingly pu- 

 bescent; leaves 2'-4i' long, acuminate at the 

 apex, sessile, rounded, or slightly clasping at 

 the base, green on both sides, or somewhat 

 paler beneath, their margins finely ciliate; 

 peduncles ¥~i' long, usually pubescent, 1- 

 flowered, rarely 2-flowered ; flowers purple or 

 rose, 4"-6" long; perianth-segments lanceo- 

 late, acuminate ; anthers 2-horned ; style 3- 

 cleft, the spreading branches stigmatic along 

 the inner side; berry s"-6" in diameter. 



In moist woods, Newfoundland to Manitoba, 

 Georgia and Michigan. Ascends to 5600 ft. in 

 Virginia. Liver-berry. May-July. 



Streptopus oreopolus Fernald is apparently a 

 hybrid between this and the preceding species. 



