46 COMMELINACEAE— LILIACEAE 



Liliales Lily Order 



Commelinaceae — Spiderwort Family 



Upright or trailing herbs with fleshy leaves of moderate thickness; mucilaginous sap; sepals 3 

 or 0, petals 3, stamens 3 or 6, pistil 1, ovary 2-3-celled; flower syncarpous, apopetalous or sympetal- 

 ous, hypogynous, regular or irregular ; sepals not petal-like, petals usually withering in one day. 



1. Flowers regular; stamens 6 



a. Petals separate Tradescantia 



b. Base of petals united to form a tube Zebrina 



2. Flowers irregular ; fertile stamens 3 Commelina 



Tradescantia — Spiderwort, Wandering Jew 



(Named for Tradescant, an English gardener) 



1. Native species with linear leaves; flowers chiefly in early summer 



a. Sepals and pedicels smooth T. reflcxa 



b. Sepals glandular pubescent 



(1) Leaves and bracts 5-10 mm. wide T. occidentdlis 



(2) Leaves and bracts 1-2 cm. wide T. bracteata 



2. Cultivated species with ovate or lanceolate leaves 



a. Creeping plant, rooting at the joints; leaves green or white striped; 



flowers white T. fluminensis 



b. Plant half prostrate, not widely creeping; flowers rose-colored T. micrdntha 



Zebrina — Wandering Jew 



(From zebra, referring to the striped leaves) 

 Creeping plant with variegated leaves, purple beneath Z. pcndula 



Commelina — Day Flower 



(Named for the brothers Commelin, Dutch botanists) 

 Branching annual weed with bright blue flowers C. communis 



Liliaceae — Lily Family 



Herbaceous plants with scapes or leafy stems growing from bulbs, corms or rootstocks, rarely 



shrubby; sepals 3, petals 3, stamens 6, pistil 1, ovary 3-celled, superior; flowers syncarpous, 



apopetalous or sympetalous, hypogynous, regular or nearly so ; sepals usually petal-like. 



1. Plants with evident above-ground stems bearing the leaves, or leaf-like 



twigs 



a. Plants with true leaves 



(1) Leaves thick and fleshy; flowers small, numerous, in elongated 



leafless spikes or racemes 



(a) Perianth tubular, with scarcely any limb Aloe 



(b) Tips of petals and sepals free, spreading, irregular Ha-vorthia 



(2) Leaves not thick and fleshy ; flowers large, solitary or in loose 



leafy clusters 



(a) Flower solitary ; stem bearing 1-2 leaves Tulipa 



(b) Flowers usually several ; stem bearing many leaves Lilium 



b. True leaves reduced to minute scales, foliage consisting of needle-like 



or leaf-like twigs in the axils of the scale-leaves 



(1) Herbaceous; flowers and fruit borne on ordinary twigs Asparagus 



(2) Shrubby; flowers and fruit borne on the leaf-like twigs Ruscus 



2. Stemless plants 



a. Flowers borne on erect leafless scapes, usually in clusters 



(1) Leaves ovate to lanceolate 



(a) Flowers trumpet-shaped, each lasting one day Funkia 



(b) Flowers bell-shaped, persistent Convallaria 



(2) Leaves linear, each flower lasting several days 

 (a) Plants with thickened roots and no true bulb 



x. Flowers in umbels, blue or white Agapanthus 



