400 



MELANTHACE^E. (COLCHICUM FAMILY.) 



oles ; panicle slender, long and spreading, loosely flowered ; leaves cf the peri- 

 anth greenish, Bpatulate, smooth, rather shorter than the pedicels, twice as lung 

 as the stamens ; ovary smooth. — Mountains of North Carolina. Juiy. — Stem 

 2° -5° high. Lowest leaves 9'- 12' long. Flowers 4" -5" wide. 



8. AMIANTHIUM, Gray. Fly-Poison. 



Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth oblong or obovate, sessile, spreading, 

 glandlcss, shorter than the slender stamens. Anthers kidney-shaped, becoming 

 peltate. Styles slender : stigmas minute. Capsule membranaceous, 3-lobcd, 

 the cells separating and opening down the inner suture, few-seeded. Seeds 

 oblong or linear, wingless. — Stems simple, smooth, tumid or bulbous at the 

 base, scape-like above. Lowest leaves long and crowded. Flowers white, in a 

 simple raceme. 



1. A. muscaetoxieum, Gray. Stem bulbous at the base, somewhat 

 angled ; lowest leaves strap-shaped, obtuse, channelled, the uppermost small 

 and bract-like ; raceme cylindrical, densely flowered ; leaves of the perianth 

 oblong, nearly equalling the stamens; styles spreading; seeds ovoid, red. 

 (Helonias erythrosperma, Michx.) — Rich woods, Florida, and northward. May 

 and June. — Stem 1° -2° high. Flowers small, turning greenish. 



2. A. angUStifolium, Gray. Stem tumid at the base, slender, terete; 

 leaves linear, acute, channelled, somewhat glaucous, the lowest very long, the 

 uppermost small and bract-like ; raceme oblong, mostly densely flowered ; leaves 

 of the perianth oval, shorter than the stamens ; styles erect ; seeds linear. 

 (Helonias angustifolia, Michx.) — Low pine barrens, Florida to North Carolina. 

 May and June. — Stem 2° high. Flowers turning purple. 



3. A. ? aspericaule, Gray. Stem and flowers pulverulent-roughened ; 

 stem-leaves linear-lanceolate, flat; flowers in a small (2' long) spike-like panicle, 

 composed of spiked racemes. — - Near Columbia, South Carolina, Curtis. — Plant 

 imperfectly known. 



9. SCHCENOCAULON, Gray. 



Flowers perfect. Leaves of the perianth somewhat spreading, linear-oblong, 

 glandlcss ; filaments subulate, at length twice as long as the perianth : anthers 

 kidney-shaped, becoming peltate. Ovary 6-8-ovuled. Styles very short : stig- 

 mas minute. Capsule and seeds unknown. — Scape very slender, bulbous at the 

 base. Leaves all radical, very long and narrow, dry, channelled. Flowers small, 

 pale green, crowded in a slender spike. 



1. S. gracilis, Gray. (Helonias'? duhia, Michr.) —Dry sands, Georgia 

 and Florida. April and May.— Leaves l°-2° long, scarcely 1" wide. Scape 

 2° - 3° high, rush-like. Spike 3' - 4' long. 



10. XEROPHYLLUM, Michx. 



Flowers perfect, Leaves of the perianth widely spreading, sessile, oval, as 

 lone as the subulate filaments. Anthers round-ovate, 2-eellcd. Styles filiform; 



