388 JUXCACEJS. 



Shady swamps, rare. June. Stem 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves mostly radical, 10 

 to 15 inches long, % to 1 inch wide. Raceme 3 to V inches long, dense-flowered. 

 Perianth and stamens white. 



7. HELONIAS, Linn. Unicorn. 



Gr. helcs, a swamp; the place of its growth. 



Flowers perfect. Perianth of G spatulate-oblong per- 

 sistent sepals. Stamens 6, longer than the sepals i anthers 

 roundish-oval, 2-celled, blue. Styles 3, revolute, stiginatic 

 along the inner side. Capsule obcordately 3-lobed, Jocu- 

 licidally 3-valved, the valves deeply 3-lobed, many-seeded. — 

 A smooth perennial, with a hollow naked scape from a tuberous 

 rootstock, numerous leaves, and a simple short dense raceme of pah' 

 purple flowers. 



H. BULL ATA, L. Purple-flowered Unicom. 



Leaves inversely lanceolate or oblong-spatulate, flat, nerved ; scape leafless. (H. 

 Iatifolia, ilichx.) 



Sandy swamps, rare. May. Scope 1 to 2 feet high, thick and fleshy. Leaves 10 

 to 18 inches long, 1 to \ x / z inch wide. Flowers purple, with obtuse sepals. 



8. CHAM.£LIRIUM, Willd. Devil's-bit. 



€r. chamai, on the ground, and leirion, a lily; of no obvious application. 



Flowers dioecious. Perianth of 6 spatulate-oblong 

 sepals, persistent. Stamens 6, longer than tho sepals : 

 eilaments thread-like : anthers yellow. Fertile flow- 

 ers with rudimentary stamens. Styles 3, linear club- 

 shaped, stigmatic along the inner side. Capsule ovoid, 

 oblong, not lobed, loculicidally 3-valved from the apex, 

 many-seeded. — A smooth perennial herb, with a s J ender stem 

 from a thick premorse tuberous rootstock, clustered spreading leaves^ 

 and a long slender spiked racame of yellowish-white flowers. 



C. LUTEUM, Willd. Unicorn Root. Blazing-star. 



Leaves flat, lanceolate, the lowest spatulate, tapering into a petiole ; fertile scape 

 yery leafy; sterile spile nodding; stamens exserted. (Helonias dioica, Pursh.) 



Low moist grounds, rather common. June. Spile at length 6 to 10 inches long 

 showy. Root-leaves 4 to 8 inches long, % to 1 inch wide, somewhat whorkd at the 

 base of the scape. Flowers small, very numerous, yellowish-white. The fertile 

 plants are taller, more erect, but with fewer flowers. Medicinal. 



Order 127. JUNCACEJ&— Rush Family. 



Grass-like or sedge-Wee herds, with jointed stems and a regular persistent perianth 

 t>f 6 similar glumac.ous sepals, 6 or rarely 3, stamens ivith introrse anthers, and a 1 

 to 3-celled ovary, forming a o-valved 3 to many-seeded capsule. Style single. Seem 

 Miatropous, with a minute embryo Inclosed at the base of the albumen*. 



