558 FLORA OF TEXAS. 



lU. COLCHICUM FAMILY. Order, Melai^thace^. 



Perennial Jierhsj with parallel-nerved leaves, and regular 

 flowers; perianth of 6 nearly equal divisions, free from or 

 coherent with the base of the 3-celled ovary ; stamens 6, 

 inserted on the base of the perianth ; anthers extrorse (ex- 

 cept in Tofieldia) ; styles 3, distinct or more or less united ; 

 /?v^i7 a capsule or berry ; seeds anatropous; emhr y o mmwtQ 

 in copious albumen. 



SYNOPSIS. 



Sub-order. Melantliieae. (The Colchicum Fasi- 

 ILY.) Perianth spreading, the divisions mostly distinct, 

 often clawed, withering-persistent. Styles separate. Fruit 

 a 3-celled capsule. Stems leafy at the base, simple or 

 branched. Flowers in racemes or panicles, sometimes 

 polygamous or dioecious. 



stamens 6. Anthers erect. Bi-ads short Tofieldia. 



TOFIELDIA, Hudson. 



^Zo7rer5 perfect ; leaves QiW\Q perianth spreading, sessile, 

 oblong or ohoxsite : filaj?ie7its subulate; anthers innate or 

 introrse, 2-celled ; styles subulate ; stigmas terminal ; cap- 

 sule 3-angled, septicidally 3-partible, many-seeded ; seeds 

 oblong. Stems simple, scape-like, from creeping rootstocks ; 

 leaves linear, 2-edged, equitant ; flowers small, whitish, in 

 spikes or racemes ; pedicels commonly minutely 3-bracted 

 imder the flower. 



§ 1. Tofieldia proper. Eacemes simple, thejloicers svccessively open from the base 

 upirard (centripetal) ; anthers introrse ; seeds without appendages. Smooth herbs. 



T. GLABRA, IN'utt. Stem leafy at the base, and sparingly 

 above; leaves linear; racemes densely flowered; stafnens 

 slightly exserted; styles very short. (T. glaberrima, Mac- 

 bride.) Low pine-barrens. October. Stem l°-2° high; 

 raceme 2'-4' long; flotvers white. 



