12 TRIAXDRIA MOXOGYMA 



h. Ovarij superior. 



12. XYRI8. /,. JAM. Gen. 43, 



(Greek. Xyros, aculc or pointed ; the leaves tcnninaiing in a sharp point.] 



Bract* roundish, concave, cartilaginous, imbricated. Calyx gluma- 

 eeous; sepals 2, boat-shaped. Corolla 3-petalled ; petals crenate, with 

 long, narrow claws. Style tritkl Capsule 1 -celled, 3«valved. Seed* 

 numerous. 



Herbaceous : leaves radical, mostly ensiform, with dilated serious bases : flow, 

 ore la a terminal, ovoid, imbricated head. Nat. Ord. 233. Lin<u, Xyrideje. 



1. X. Carolinian a, Walt. Scape ancipital ; leaves linear, grass-like; 

 head roundish-ovoid ; bracts orbicular. Becky Hot, p % 370. 



X. jupicai, JSTx % Am. 1. /\ 23, Bigel. Bast. p. 17. 



X. anceps. JPe?'s, iSty/i. L/>, 56. Muhl? Catah p. .*>. 



X. flexuosa. jBor*. PAl7, 1. p. 25, j?//. Sfc, 1, /;, 51, Florul 



Cestr. p. 7, Also ? JMuhL Catah p. 5. 



Carolinian Xyris. Vulgo — Yellow-flowering Rush. 



Root perennial, somewhat bulbous, cespitose. Scape erect, 10 ^ r 12 i nc hes high, 

 often spirally twisted. Leaves shorter than the scape and Bheatfejng its base, nar- 

 row, flat or twisted. Bracts roundish, concave, rigid, covering the fruit; the lower 

 ones commonly empty. Calyx somewhat persistent ; sepals rather shorter than 

 the bracts, linear-lanceolate, incurved, sides compressed. Cotolla yellow; the 

 claws of the petals nearly as long as the bracts. 

 Hab. Sandy swamps : Barrens, N. of West Chester : frequent. /"/. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This Is the only species which has yet been found in Chester County,— al- 

 though there are 3 or 4 others in the United States. I have collected, in New Jer- 

 sey, the X.Jimbriata, Ell. a large species which has not been given in any Flora 01 

 the Northern States. 



§ 2, Flowers incomplete : Spathaceou s% 



a, Ovary inferior, 



13. SISYRINCHIUM. Z, JAM. Gfo 36, 

 [Greek, 8u$ t a hog, rhynchos, a snout ; hogs being supposed fond of rooting it up. J 



Spathe 2-leaved, bract-like, Perianth corolla-like ; limb flat, 6-lobed; 

 lobes equal ; tube short. Stamens with the filaments mostly united 

 below. Capsule pedicellate, roundish, triquetrous, 3-celled, 3-vaIved. 



Herbaceous, grass^like plants: stem compressed, ancipital ; leaves marginally 

 sheathing at base; flowers terminal, from epathaceous bracts. Nat. Ord. 239 

 Lindl. Iuidk^e. 



1. S. arucRONATUM, Jlfr. Stem simple, narrow-winged, leafless ; 

 spathe colored ; the outer valve longer than the peduncles, tapering to 

 a rigid point. Beck, Bot % p % 353, 



Mucrokate Sisirinchium, Vulgo — Blue-eyed Grass, 



Root perennial, fibrous. Stem cespitose at base, 9 to 12 inches high, setaceously 

 slender. Leaves all radical, narrow-linear, grass-like. Spathe of two very unt- 







