266 FLORA. 



composed of numerous scales. Stem stout, purple, or nearly black, white-pubes- 

 Cent above, 6-15 dm. tall; leaves lanceolate, all alternate, I-I.5 dm. long, 1-2 cm. 

 Wide, the upper bearing blackish bulblets in their axils; flowers 5-25, orange-red, 

 nodding, 7-1 1 cm. long; perianth-segments lanceolate, papillose, recurved, purple- 

 spotted. Escaped from gardens, Me. and Mass. Native of China and Japan. 

 Summer. 



7. FRITILLARIA L. 



Bulbous herbs with simple stems, and nodding, leafy-bracted flowers. Perianth 

 mostly campanulate, deciduous, of 6 separate and nearly equal segments, each with 

 a nectar-pit or spot at the base. Stamens 6, hypogynous; anthers linear or oblong. 

 Ovary nearly or quite sessile, 3-celled; ovules numerous in each cavity; style slen- 

 der or filiform, 3-lobed or 3 -cleft ; capsule obovoid or globose, 6-angled, loculici- 

 dally dehiscent. Seeds numerous, flat, margined or winged. [Latin, from fritillus, 

 a dice-box or chess-board, in allusion to the form or to the checkered markings of 

 the perianth in some species.] About 50 species, natives of the north temperate 

 zone. Besides the following, about 12 others occur in western N. Am. 



1. Fritillaria atropurpurea Nutt. Purple Fritillaria. (I. F. f. ion.) 

 Stem 1.5-4 dm. high, slender, leafless below; leaves linear, alternate, sessile, 

 3-10 cm. long; flowers 1-6, purple or purplish green and mottled; perianth-seg- 

 ments narrowly oblong, obtusish, 1.2-2 cm. long; stamens shorter than the peri- 

 anth; style 3 -cleft; capsule erect, acutely angled, 10-12 mm. high. N. Dak. to 

 Neb., Wyo. and Cal. June-July. 



8. ERYTHRONIUM L. 



Low herbs, from deep membranous-coated corms, sometimes propagated by off- 

 shoots, the stem simple, bearing a pair of unequal leaves, usually below the middle, 

 the leaves thus appearing basal. Flowers large, nodding, bractless, solitary, or 

 several in some western species. Perianth-segments separate, lanceolate, oblong or 

 oblanceolate, deciduous, with nectariferous groove, and sometimes 2 short pro- 

 cesses at the base. Stamens 6, hypogynous, shorter than the perianth; anthers not 

 versatile. Ovary sessile, 3-celled; style 3-lobed or 3-cleft. Capsule obovoid or 

 oblong, somewhat 3-angled, loculicidal. [Greek, in allusion to the red flowers of 

 some species.] About 12 species, all but one North American. The species are 

 erroneously called Dog's-tooth Violet. 



Stem with no offshoot; flowers 2-5 cm. long. 



Offshoots produced at the base of the corm ; perianth-segments recurved. 



Flowers yellow ; stigmas very short. 1. E. Americanum. 



Flowers white, blue or purple ; stigmas 2-3 mm. long, recurved. 



2. E. albidum. 

 No offshoots, propagating by basal corms ; perianth-segments not recurved. 



3. E. mesochoreum. 

 Stem with a fleshy offshoot below the leaves; flowers rose, about 1.2 cm. long;. 



4. E. propullans. 



1. Erythronium Americanum Ker. Yellow Adder's-tongue. (I. F. f. 

 1012.) Corm ovoid, 1-2 cm. high, producing offshoots from its base. Stem 

 1.5-3 dm. long; leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 7-20 cm. long, flat, usually 

 mottled with brown, narrowed into clasping petioles; peduncle about as long as the 

 leaves; flower yellow, or rarely purplish tinged; perianth-segments oblong, 2-5 cm. 

 long, recurved, dotted within, the 3 inner auricled at the base; style club-shaped; 

 capsule obovoid; seeds curved, pointed at both ends. In moist woods and thickets, 

 N. S. to Out., Minn., Fla., Mo. and Ark. March-May. 



2. Erythronium albidum Nutt. White Adder's-tongue. (I. F. f. 1013.) 

 Similar to the preceding, the leaves sometimes rather narrower. Flower white, 

 blue or purple; perianth-segment^ oblong, recurved, none of them auricled at the 

 base; style somewhat thickened upward; stigmas linear, finally recurving, 2-3 mm. 

 long; capsule obovoid or oblong. In moist woods and thickets, Out. to Minn.. 

 Ga., Tenn. and Tex. March May. 



3. Erythronium mesochoreum Knerr. Midland Adder's-tongue. (I. F. f. 

 1014.) Corm ovoid, not developing offshoots; new corms formed at or within the 





