TELLOW-EYED GRASS PAMILT. 351 



tvvo former by the full-developed petals, the latter by the smaller or abortive 

 petal. ) Ours are branching perennials, or continued by rooting from the joints ; 

 in alluvial or moist shady soil : fl. all summer. 



C. er^cta. From'Penn- S. & W. : stem erect, 2°-4° high; leaves lance- 

 oblong, 3' -7' long, the margins rough backwards, and . sheaths fringed with 

 bristles ; spathes crowded, hooded, top-shaped in fruit ; odd petal like the others 

 but smaller. ' 



C. Virginica. From S. New York S, & W. : stems reclining and rooting 

 at base ; leaves oblong-lanceolate or narrower ; spa,thes scattered, conduplicate, 

 round-heart-shaped when laid open ; odd petal inconspicuous., 



2. TRADESCANTIA, SPIDERWORT. (Named for the gardeher-bot^ 

 anist Tradescant. ) Leaves sheathed at the base. Jf. 



» Wild species of moist or rich woods, one very common in gardens : with erect 

 stems, linear Or lanceolate keeled leaves, the uppermost nearly like the others. 



■*- Umbels sessile at the end of the stein and branches between a pair of leaves f or later 

 also in the lower axils : flowering in summer. 



T. Virginioa. Common wild from W. New Yort W. & S., and in gar- 

 dens : leaves lance-linear, tapering regularly from the base to the point, ciliate ; 

 umbels terminal ; flowers blue, in garden varieties purple or white. 



T. pilbsa. Chiefly W.: 2^ or more hi'gh, with zigzag 5tem,,more,or less 

 pubescent leaves lanceolate from a narrowish base, vpry dense tqi-miual and ax- 

 illary umbels of smaller and later purple-blue flowers, and hairy calyx and 

 pedicels- , , , , , ,,, n ,, . .,i '■ 



H- -1- Umbels one or two on anaJctd pedunfle. 



T, rosea. Sandy woods chiefly S. & W. : slender, 6'- 12' high, smooth', 

 with linear grass-like leaves, and I'ose-colored flowers |-' wide. 



" ' *"* Conservatory species from the tropics. ^C,' .'. 

 T. zebrinaj the only one common, spreads by branching and rooting freely, 

 rarely blossbins, is cult, for its foliage ; the lance-ovate or oblong rather succu- 

 lent leaves crimson beneath, and green or purplish above, variegated with two 

 broad stripes of .silvery white, 



127. XYRIDACE^, YELLOW-EYED GRASS F. 



Euslj-like herbs', with equitant leaves, like Sedges, or ratiier Bul- 

 rushes, in having flowers in a head or spike one tinder each firm 

 iSiluine-like bract, but with a regular perianth of 3 sepals and 3 col- 

 ored (yellow) petals ; also a 1-celled many-seeded ovary and pod 

 with 3 parietal placentae, somewhat as in the Rush Family, repre- 

 sented by 



Xyris flexubsa, Common Yellow-eted Grass, of sandy bogs, Scape 

 4'- 16' high; head roundish; lateral sepals glume-like lance-oblong, boat- 

 shaped, wingless; the anterior one larger, membranaceous, enwrappi;ig the 

 corolla in the bud and deciduous with it ; petals 3, with claws, alternatirig with 

 3 sterile bearded or plumose filaments and bearing on their base 3 naked' fila- 

 ments with linear anthers ; style 3-cleft. % 



X. Carolini&na, the commonest of several Southern species ; . also N. : 

 l°-2° high, the scape 2-edged at top, bearing a larger head (about ^' long), 

 lateral sepals winged but nearly naked on the keel. y. 



X. flmbrikta, from pine barrens of New Jersey S. : 2° high, with oblong 

 head almost 1' long, the lateral sepals fringed on the keel, 21. 



