THE COLORS OF NORTHERN MONOCOTY-— 
LEDONOUS FLOWERS. 
JOHN H. LOVELL. 
In the accompanying table the 1058 species of northern 
monocotyledonous flowers recognized in the ///ustrated Flora 
of Britton and Brown have been arranged according to their 
predominant colors. The territory covered extends from the 
Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102d meridian, and from the 
parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia and Kentucky 
northward, to include Labrador and Manitoba. The green or 
dull-colored flowers number 857, and the non-green 201, of 
which 41 are yellow, 82 white, 22 red, 22 purple, and 34 blue. 
Of the 28 families, 12 contain yellow flowers, 11 white, 5 red 
and purple, 5 blue, and 15 green. Six families are represented 
by only a single species. Yellow and white flowers usually 
occur in the same families, except in the AJismacez with 19 
white, and the Xyrjdaceze with 6 yellow species. There are 
described in the sixth edition of Gray s Manual 785 monocoty- 
ledons, which, for the purpose of comparison, I have also tabu- 
lated according to their colors; 621 have green or dull-colored 
flowers, and 164 non-green, divided into 38 yellow, 67 white, 
19 red, 19 purple, and 21 blue. The yellow, red, and purple 
are less than those of the ///ustrated Flora by 3 each, the white 
by 15, the blue by 13, and the green by 236. This difference 
is due partly to the more restricted area of the Manual, and 
partly to a different conception of varieties and species. 
The flowers of the four families, Typhaceze to Scheuchzeri- 
acez, are either anemophilous as in Typha and Potamogeton, 
or hydrophilous as in Ruppia and Zostera, or self-fertilized as 
is probably the case in Triglochin and Scheuchzeria. The 
perianth segments are very small or wanting, and the numer- 
ous flowers are usually crowded in a greenish inconspicuous 
inflorescence which is often spathaceous. The spikes of Typha 
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