XYRIDACE/F.. 393 



and forming a kind of spathe inclosing the blue or white 

 ephemeral flowers. 



1. C. ANGUSTIFOLIA, Miehx. Narrow-leaved Bay -flower. 



Stem usually reclining and rooting at the joints ; leaves lanceolate or linear- 

 lanceolate; spathe heart-shaped, folded together; peduncles usually divided, the 

 smaller branch 1-ilowered or sterile; pcfaZs.unequal, the lower one much smaller ; 

 capsule 2-celled. 



Damp rich woods and banks, rare. July — Oct. Pep. Plant nearly smooth, 12 

 to IS inches high. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, % tolj^inch wide, varying from 

 lance-linear to lanceolate. Spathe veiny, 3 to 5-flowered. Flowers deep blue. 

 Stamens 2, perfect. 



2. C. VlRGINICA, L. Virginian Day-flower. 



Stems upright, smooth ; leaves lance-oblong, acuminate, the upper surface and 

 margins rough backwards ; sheaths fringed with rusty bristles; spathes crowded 

 and nearly sessile, broadly dilated ; peduncle several-flowered ; petals nearly equal? 

 eapsule 3-celled. 



Alluvial shaded river-banks. July, Aug. Per. Stem 1 to 2 feet high, erect, 

 Leaves 5 to 7 inches long, 2 inches wide. Sp'ithe broadly funnel-shaped. Flowers 

 blue, clustered at the top of the stem. Stamens 3. 



C. CQELESTis, with blue or white flowers is sometimes cultivated. 



2. TRADESCANTIA, Linn. Spiderwort. 



Named for Tradescant, gardner to Charles the Firsts. 



Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all 

 alike, ovate, sessile-. Stamens 6, all fertile: filaments 

 bearded. Capsule 2 to 3-celled, the cells 1 to 2-seeded. — 

 Herbaceous perennials, with keeled linear or lance linear leaves, and 

 ephemeral white purplish and rose-colored flowers in axillary and 

 terminal umbelled clusters. 



1. T. Virginica, L. Common Spiderwort. 



Leaves lan«e-linear, elongated, tapering from the sheathing base to the point, 

 ciliate ; umbels terminal, many-flowered; calyx pubesceut 



Moist shady woods, common in cultivation. May — Aug. Slams thick, round, 

 jointed, 12 to 18 inches high. Leaves numerous, 12 to 18 inches long, by % to<i 

 inch wide. Flowtrs blue, in gardens often purplish or white, soon fading. 



2. T. rosea, Vent. Rose-colored Spiderwort. 



Small and slender, smooth; leaves linear, long, ciliate at the base; umbel simpl* 

 or sometimes a pair ; calyx smooth. 



Moist woods or sandy fields, common. May. Stem 8 to 12 inches high. Leaves 

 grass-like, 6 to 8 inches long, aViout % inch wide. Flowers rose-colored, much 

 smaller than in the preceding species. 



Order 130. XYRTOACEJE — Xyris Family, 



Rush-like herbs, with equitant leaves sheathing the base by a naked scape, wlicli is 

 terminated by a head of perfect o-androus flowers, with extrorse anthers, aglumaceous 

 calyx, and a rtgular corolla. Fauit a 3-valved capsule containing many anatro- 

 yoos seeds ;— chie fly represented by the genus. 



