118 MELANTHACEAE (BUNCH-FLOWER FAMILY) 



Anthers confluently l-celled, cordate or reniform. - , <.; ,,^ 



Sterna from a bulb; perianth-segments with gland or spot near the base 3. Zygaden^ijji ' 

 Stems from a rootatock; perianth-segments not gland bearing . . 4. Veratnun," 



1. XEROPHYLLUM Michx. 



Stem from a bulbous base, bearing a compact raceme of showy white 

 flowers, and thickly beset with needle-shaped leaves, the upper of which; are 

 reduced to bristle-like bracts; those from the root very many in a dense tuft. 



1. Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt. Gen. 1: 235. 1818. Stems 6-10 dm. 

 high: leaves often 5-8 dm. long: flowers white; pedicels 2-4 cm. long: perianth 

 scarcely equaling the stamens; segments oblong, 8-10 mm. long, 5-7-nerved: 

 capsule cordate-ovate, 6-valved, the abruptly acute cells separating and then 

 dehiscing. — Montana, possibly Wyoming, and west to Oregon. 



2. TOFIELDIA Huds. False Asphodbi, 



Mostly tufted, with fibrous roots, and simple stems leafy only at base, bear- 

 ing small flowers in a close raceme. Leaves linear, ^ass-like. Ours has stem 

 and inflorescence pubescent, and pedicels fascicled. 



1. Tofieldia intermedia Rydb. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 27: 528. 1900. Stem 

 slender, viscid-pubescent above: leaves linear: raceme short, few-flowered: 

 flowers yellow: sepals obovate, 4-5 mm. long: petals narrower and longer: 

 capsule ovoid : seeds unappendaged. T. glutinosa. — Wyoming and far north- 

 ward and westward. 



3. ZYGADENUS Michx. 



Glabrous herbs, with leafy or somewhat scape-like stems from a tunicated 

 bulb, and long narrow keeled leaves. Flowers greenish-yellow or nearly white 

 in a terminal raceme or panicle. Perianth withering-persistent; the segments 

 with a glandular spot near the base. Stamens free or attached to the base of 

 the segments. Capsule 3-celled, dehiscent to the base. Seeds numerous, ots- 

 long or linear, angled. — (Toxicoscordion and Anticlea, c. f. Bull. Torr; Bot. 

 Club 30: 272-3. 1903.) 



Gland obcordate; base Qf ovary adnate to the perianth , , . 1. Z, elegans. 

 Gland obovate or semiorbicular; ovary free. "^ 



Perianth-segments more or less clawed; filaments attached to the <' 

 base of the segments. 



Flowers small; leaves narrow; gland orbicular . , . . 2. Z. venenosus. 



Flowers larger; leaves broader; gland semiorbicular . . .3. Z. intermediiis. 



Perianth-segments not clawed; filaments free ..... 4.' Z. Nuttallii. 



1. Zygadenus elegans Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 241. 1814. Bulb ovate: stem 

 2-8 dm. high: leaves glaucous, 4^12 mm. broad: raceme simple or sparingly 

 branched below, often few-flowered: bracts ovate-lanceolate, usually purr 

 plish: perianth adnate at base; segments broad, greenish, 8-10 mm. long; the 

 inner abruptly contracted to a broad claw; gland obcordate: styles 4 mm. 

 long or more: seeds oblong, angular, 4 mm. long. (Z. dilaiata Greene, PI. 

 Baker. I 1: 51. 1901; Z. coloradensis Rydb. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 27: 534. 

 1900.) — ^The whole Rocky Mountain region from Colorado northward. 



2. Zygadenus venenosus Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 14: 279. 1879. Bulb 

 elongated-ovoid: stem slender, strict, 1-5 dm. high: leaves narrow, 4-6 ram. 

 broad, scabrous on margin and midrib, with scarious sheathing base (except 

 the uppermost): raceme simple, short, with narrow scarious bracts: perianth 

 free from the ovary; segments triangular-ovate to elliptic, obtuse or acutish, 

 4-6 mm. long, all abruptly contracted to a short-glandular, claw; the blade 

 rounded or subcordate at base; the gland with a well-defined irregular margin: 

 stamens somewhat adnate to the claw: pedicels suberect in fruit: capsule 

 8-12 mm. long: seeds 3-5 mm. long. (Z. gramineus Rydb. 1. c.) — Northern 

 Wyoming and Montana and west to the Pacific States. 



