POPULAR FLORA. 



207 



5. Nodding T. Leaves nearly sessile, rhombic-ovate ; flower small, on a short peduncle curved 



down under the leaves; petals oblong-ovate, pointed, recurved, wavy. E. & S. T. cernuum. 



4. Ekect T. or Bikthuoot. Leaves sessile, round-rhombic 

 with a very abrupt point; flower on a nearly upright pe- 

 duncle; petals ovate, acutish, spreading, dull purple or some- 

 times greenish-white. Common N. T. ereclum. 



6. Great-flowkred T. Leaves and peduncle nearly as in 



No. 4; petals obovate, erect at the base, then gradually 

 spreading much longer and broader than the sepals, white, 

 turning rose-color when old. N. and W. T. grandifibrum, 

 6. Painted T. Leaves petioled, pale green, ovate, taper-pointed ; 

 flower on an upright peduncle; petals lance-ovate, point- 

 ed, widely spreading, longer than the sepals, wavy, white, 

 adorned with delicate pink-purple stripes at the base. Cold 

 damp woods, &c. N. T. erythrocdrpum. „ ,„ ... 



^ ' J J- 506, Flower of Trillium, naliirai size. 



Indian Cucumber-root. Medeola. 

 Stem 1° to 3" high, from a white tuberous horizontal rootstock, having the taste of a cucumber, 

 bearing near the middle a whorl of 5 to 9 obovate-lanceolate pointed sessile leaves, and at the top 

 one of 3 ovate smaller leaves, and a few small greenish-yellow flowers in an umbel, on recurved stalks. 

 Sepals and petals each 3, oblong and alike, recurved. Stamens 6 : filaments longer than the anthers. 

 Stigmas 3, sessile, iong and thread-shaped. Ovary one, making a round S-celled and few-seeded berry. 

 One species, in damp woods ; flowering in summer. M. Virginica. 



95. SPIDERWORT FAMILY. Order COMMELYNACE,^. 

 Tender herbs, with alternate parallel-veined leaves sheathing at the base, and 

 perfect flowers, having 3 green or greenish sepals and 3 petals on the receptacle. 

 Pistil one, with one long style and one stigma. Pod small, 3-celled or sometimes 

 2-celled, few-seeded. Flowers opening in the morning for only one day, the 

 delicate (generally blue or purple) petals then melting away. There are two 

 genera wild ; and the Spiderwort is cultivated in every flower-garden. 



Flowers regular: the 3 petals and 6 stamens 

 all alike: filaments bearded with joint- 

 ed colored haii-s : leaves lance-linear, 

 sessile, all alike, ( Tradescdntia) Spiderwort. 



Flowers irregular : two of the petals kidney- 

 shaped on long claws, and one smaller: 

 stamens unequal, only three of them 

 with good anthers : filaments naked : 

 lower leaves with sheathing footstalks, 

 the uppermost sessile and somewhat 

 heart-shaped, ( Commeli/na) Day-fix)wer. ' 



607 Flowerof Spiderwort. 



508. Pistil, magnified; the ovary cut acrosfc. 



