32 FAM. 27, 28, 29. 



rooting at the joints; leaves lance-ovate, sessile, with under surface red- 

 purple, upper silver- white suffused with purple; flowers rose-red, contained 

 in two boat-shaped unequal bracts; stamens 6, equal. 



27. Pontedariaceae, Pickerel-weed Family. 



Herbs with rootstocks and alternate or clustered leaves ; 

 flowers solitary or in spikes subtended by leaflike spathes; 

 the 6 parts of the colored perianth partially united; fruit 

 a utricle or a capsule. 



Pontedaria cordata, Pickerel-weed or Wampee. Rootstocks horizontal; leaves 

 ovate, often sagittate; spike with bract-like spathe; perianth blue or white, upper 

 lobe with yellow dots; stamens 6, unequally inserted on the perianth; style filiform; 

 ovary superior, 3-celled. Borders of ponds and river. Spring to Fall. 



Piaropus (Eichhornia) crassipes, Water -hyacinth. Rootstocks floating with 

 rootlets at the nodes; petioles inflated, leaves roundish; perianth bluish-purple, showy, 

 upper lobe with a yellow spot; stamens inserted on the perianth, 3 included, 3 exsert- 

 ed. In St. Johns river and branches. Summer and Fall. 



28. Bromeliaceae, Pine-apple Family. 



Mostly epiphytes, pendent or erect, with scurfy foliage; 

 flowers solitary or in pairs or in spikes, subtended by bracts; 

 sepals and petals 3; stamens 3-6; ovary 3-carpeled with 1 

 style and spreading stigmas; ovules numerous; fruit gener- 

 ally a capsule. 



1. Epiphytes, ovary superior, --------, 2 



1. No epiphytes, ovary inferior, _______ Ananas 



Ananas sativus, Pine-apple. Cultivated, here mostly under shed; stem erect, 



scape-like; leaves mainly basal, spiny; the cone-like fruit from a consoli- 

 dated flower-spike. 



2. Stems string-like, branching, hanging in festoons of 1-6 m. from the branches 



of trees; flowers axillary, solitary, - Dendropogon 



D. (Tillandsia) usneoides, Spanish Moss. The filiform stems and leayes covered 

 with silvery scales; sepals green, petals yellowish. Spring. 

 2. Stems not pendent, flowers mostly in spikes. Hammocks. Summer. 



a. Flowers blue or violet; _____ Tillandsia, Air-plant 

 T. recurvata (Bartramiij. Flowering stems scape-like, filiform; plant fuzzy. 

 T. tenuifolia (Bartramii and caespitosa). Flowering stems leafy; basal leaves 



not shorter than the stem; scurfy; plant often reddish. 



b. Flowers white, pink or purple. — T. utriculata and T. aloifolia. 



The Billbergias, epiphytes, with stiff pine-apple-like leaves in a rosette, from 

 which the spikes or spicate panicles arise, are cultivated in greenhouses. 



29. Melanthaceae, Bunch-flower Family. 



Caulescent or scapose herbs; flowers mostly in ra- 

 cemes or panicles, perianth often inconspicuous, sepals and 

 petals 3 each; stamens mostly 6, with the filaments adnate to 



