534 



AMARYLLIDACEAE. 



Vol. I. 



the ovary. Capsule ovoid, subglobose or oblong, 3 -lobed, 3-celled, thick-walled, many-seeded. 

 Seeds compressed. [Named for Manfred, an ancient Italian writer.] 



About 25^ species, all American. Besides the following, some 3 others occur in the southern 



states. Type species : Agave virginica L. 



i. Manfreda virginica (L.) Salisb. False 

 • Aloe. Fig. 1324. 



Agave virginica L. Sp. PI. 323. 1753. 

 M. virginica Salisb.; Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8- 

 19. 1903. 



Glabrous throughout, rootstock a short crown 

 with numerous fibrous roots. Scape 2°-6° tall, 

 rather slender, sometimes nearly J' in diameter at 

 the base, its bracts distant, long-acuminate, the 

 lower 3'-6'^ long; leaves narrowly oblong, i°-2° 

 long, Y-2Y wide, acuminate, their margins entire 

 or denticulate; spike i°-2° long, loose; flowers 

 greenish yellow, odorous, solitary in the axils of 

 short bracts, sessile or the lowest distinctly pedi- 

 celled; perianth nearly tubular, slightly expanded 

 above, 8"-i2" long, the tube about twice as long as 

 the erect lobes ; filaments at length about as long as 

 the perianth; capsule s"-8" in diameter, slightly 

 longer than thick, abruptly contracted into a short 

 stalk. 



In dry soil, Maryland to Indiana and Missouri, south 

 to Florida and Texas. Rattlesnake's-master. 



6. HYPOXIS L. Syst. Ed. 10, 2 : 986. 1759. 



Low, mostly villous herbs with a corm or short rootstock, grass-like leaves and slender 

 few-flowered scapes, the flowers rather small. Perianth 6-parted, its segments equal or 

 nearly so, separate to the summit of the ovary, spreading, withering-persistent, the 3 outer 

 ones greenish on the lower side in our species. Stamens inserted on the bases of the peri- 

 anth-segments; filaments short; anthers erect, sagittate or entire. Ovary 3-celled; style 

 short; stigmas 3, erect; ovules numerous, in 2 rows in each cavity. Capsule subglobose or 

 oblong, thin-walled, not dehiscent by valves. Seeds globular, black, laterally short-beaked 

 by their stalks. [Greek, originally given to some plant with sour leaves.] 



About 50 species, widely distributed. Besides the following, 3 others occur in the southern 

 states. Type species : Hypoxis erectum L. 



i. Hypoxis hirsuta (L.) Coville. Yellow Star- 

 grass. Fig. 1325. 



Ornithogalum hirsutum L. Sp. PI. 306. 1753. • 

 Hypoxis erectum L. Syst. Ed. 10, 2 : 986. 1759. 

 H ypoxis hirsuta Coville, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 118. 1894. 



Corm ovoid, oblong or globose, i'-¥ in diameter, with 

 numerous fibrous roots. Leaves basal, narrowly linear, 

 l"-2i" wide, more or less villous, mostly longer than 

 the scapes; scapes slender, erect, villous above, usually' 

 glabrous below, 2'-6' high; flowers 1-6, umbellate; 

 bracts subulate, shorter than the pedicels; perianth- 

 segments narrowly oblong, spreading, mostly obtuse, 

 bright yellow within, greenish and villous without, 3"-S" 

 long; stamens somewhat unequal; style rather shorter 

 than the stamens, 3-angled, the stigmas decurrent on the 

 angles; capsule about ii" in diameter; seeds angled, 

 black. 



In dry soil, Maine to Ontario, Assinrboia, Kansas, Florida 

 and Texas. Ascends to 3000 ft. in Virginia. Star-of-Beth- 

 lehem. May-Oct. 



7. LOPHIOLA Ker, Bot. Mag. pi 1596. 1814. 

 An erect perennial herb with slender rootstocks, fibrous roots, erect sparingly leafy stems, 

 the leaves narrowly linear and mostly basal, and numerous small yellowish flowers in a ter- 

 minal woolly cymose panicle. Perianth camp'anulate, persistent, of 6 nearly equal woolly 

 erect-spreading segments, slightly united at the base, and adnate to the lower part of the 

 ovary. Stamens inserted on the bases of the perianth-segments; filaments filiform, short; 

 anthers basifixed. Ovary 3-celled ; style subulate, at length 3-cleft ; ovules numerous, in 2 

 rows in each cavity. Capsule ovoid, tipped with the style, finally loculicidally 3-valved at the 



