290 LILIACEAE (LILY FAMILY^ 



2. 0. N-fjTANS L. Scape 3 dm. high or more; flowers 5-6, large (2-2.15 cm^ 

 long) , nodding on very short pedicels ; fllamentE ?ery broad. — Rarely escaped 

 from gardens ; Pa. to D. C. (Introd. from Eu.) 



20. MUSCARI [Toum.] Mill. Grape Hyacinth 



Perianth globular or ovoid, minutely 6-toothed (blue, rarely pink or white) 

 Stamens 6, included ; anthers short, introrse. Style short. Capsule loculicidal, 

 with 2 black angular seeds in each cell. — Leaves and scape (in early spring) 

 from a coated bulb ; the small flowers in a dense raceme, sometimes musk- 

 scented (whence the name). 



1. M. BOTEYoiDES (L.) Mill. Leavcs linear, 6-10 mm. broad ; flowers globu- 

 lar (3-5 mm. long), deep blue, appearing like minute grapes. — Escaped from 

 gardens into copses and fence-rows. (Introd. from Eu.) 



2. M. eacem6sum (L.) Mill. Leaves 2-3 mm. broad ; flowers oblong-nrceo- 

 late (4-5 mm. long), deep blue, fragrant. — Rare escape, s. N. Y. to Va. 

 (Introd. from Eu.) 



21. Y^CCA [Rupp.] L. Beak Grass. Spanish Bayonet 



Perianth of 6 large white or greenish oval or oblong and acute flat with- 

 ering-persistent segments, the 3 inner broader, longer than the 6 stamens. 

 Stigmas 3, sessile. Capsule oblong, somewhat 0-sided, 3-oelled, or imperfectly 

 6-celled by a partition from the back, fleshy, at length loculicidally 3-valved 

 from the apex. Seeds very many in each cell, flattened. — Stems woody, in 

 ours very short, bearing persistent rigid linear or sword-shaped leaves, and an 

 ample panicle or raceme of showy flowers. (The native Haytian name for the 

 root of the Cassava-plant.) 



1. Y. glaiica Nutt. Leaves very stiff and pungent, 2-6 dm. long, 4-12 mm. 

 wide, filirerous on the margin ; raceme mostly simple, nearly sessile (3-12 dm. 

 long); flowers- 3.5-6 cm. wide; stigmas green, shorter than the ovary ; capsule 

 6-sided (7 cm. long); seeds 10-12 mm. broad. (F. angusiifoUa Pursh.) — Dak. 

 to la., Mo., N. Max., and Wyo. May, June. 



2. Y. filamentbsa L. (Adam's Needle.) Caudex 3 dm. high or less, from 

 a running rootstock ; leaves numerous, coriaceous, more or less tapering to a 

 short point, rough on the back, 4-6 dm. long, 2-4 cm. wide, filiferous on the 

 margin ; panicle pyramidal, densely flowered, on a stout bracteate scape, 1-3 to. 

 high; flowers large; stigmas pale, elongated; capsule 3.5 cm. long; seeds C 

 mm. broad. — Near the coast, Md. (where of the formal var. i.atif6ha Engelm. 

 with leaves 6-9 cm. wide) to Fla. and La. July. — Very variablie. Occasionally 

 spontaneous about old gardens. 



22. ASpArAGUS [Tourn.] L. Asparagus 



Perennials, with much branched stems from thick and matted rootstocks, and 

 small greenish-yellow axillary flowers on jointed pedicels. The narrow, com- 

 monly thread-like, so-called leaves are really branchlets, acting as leaves, clus- 

 tered in the axils of little scales which are the true leaves. (The ancient Greek 

 name.) 



W' 1. A. offioinXlis L. (Garden A.) — A frequent escape. June. (Introd. 

 from Eu. ) 



23. CLINT6nIA Raf. 



Perianth of 6 divisions, lily-like, deciduous. Filaments long and thread-like ; 

 anthers extrorsely fixed lay a point above the base. Ovary ovoid-subcylindric, 

 2-3-celled ; style long. — Short-stemmed perennials, with slender creeping root- 

 stocks, bearing a naked peduncle sheathed at the base by the stalks of 2-4 

 large oblong or oval oiliate leaves ; flowers umbeled, rarely single. (Dedicated 

 to De Witt Clinton, prominent statesman, several times governor of New York.) 



