238 



GROUPS AND ORDERS OF ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. 



Group 4. Flowers with regular perianth, often in two series which are more or less petaloid (rarely glumaccous), free 

 from the 3-celleJ ovary. Seeds albuminous. — Herbs ; rarely climbing or shrubby plants. 



116. Smilaceje. Perianth 6-parted. Stamens 6. Stigmas 3. Berry few- or many-seeded. Albumen hard. — Herbs 



or shrubby plants, often climbing and prickly. Leaves reticulatcly veined. 



117. LlLiACEiE. Perianth colored. Stamens 6. Styles united. Fruit capsular or sometimes fleshy. Albumen 



fleshy. — Herbs with the leaves sheathing or clasping at the base. 



118. Pontederia ceje . Flowers arising from the spatha, or from a fissure of the petiole. Perianth 6-cleft and 



persistent, or withering. Stamens 3 or 6. Capsules often one-celled. Albumen farinaceous. — 

 Aquatic plants. 



119. MELANTHACEjE. Perianth regular, in a double series. Stamens G. Capsules 3-parted. Embryo fleshy. — 



Herbs, with bulbs, conns, or fasciculated roots. 



120. JuNCACEiE. Perianth 6-leaved, glumaceous. Capsules 1 - 3-celled. — Herbaceous grass-like plants. 



Group 5. Flowers with a double or imbricated perianth ; the exterior glumaceous or herbaceous ; the interior petaloid. 

 Ovary free, 1 - 3-celled. — Herbs, often grass-like. 



121. Commkltktaceje. Calyx herbaceous. Filaments often hairy. Styles and stigmas united. Capsules 2 - 3- 



celled, few-seeded. — Perennial herbs, with fibrous or tuberous roots. 



122. Xyridaceje. Calyx glumaccous. Petals with claws. Stamens 6, 3 of them sterile. Capsules 1-celled, 



many-seeded. — Rush-like plants, with scapes, and the flowers in heads. 



123. ERiocAULiNKiE. Flowers minute, dioecious or monoecious, in dense heads intermixed with scales or hairs. 



Calyx glumaceous. Corolla 3-cleft. Stamens 6, the alternate ones imperfect. Capsules 2 - 3-celled, 

 2 - 3-seeded. — Aquatic or marsh rush-like plants. 



Group 6. Flowers imbricated with bracts (glumes and scales), and disposed in spikelets; the proper perianth either 

 wanting, or taking the form of bristles or scales. Ovary one-celled, with a solitary ovule, becoming an 

 achenium or caryopsis in fruit. Embryo at the extremity of albumen next the hilum. 



124. Cyperace.ze. Flowers solitary in the axil of each bract. Perianth none, or in the form of bristles or scales 



Styles 2-3, commonly united. Fruit an achenium. — Culms usually solid. Sheaths of the leaves 

 entire. 



125. Gramine.2E. Flowers in 2-ranked spikelets, usually several bracts to each flower, the inner 2 usually more 



delicate than the others. Perianth none, or in the form of 1 - 3 very minute scales. Styles or 

 stigmas 2. Fruit a caryopsis. — Culms hollow, closed at the nodes : sheaths of the leaves split. 



Group 1. Flowers mostly on a spadix, with the perianth either wanting or scale- 

 like, rarely regular and simple. — Chiefly herbs ; often aquatic. 



Order CVI. ARACEiE. Juss. The Arum Tribe. 



Spadix often naked at the extremity, usually surrounded by a spatha. Flowers 

 usually monoecious on the same spadix, and destitute of floral envelopes; in a 

 few genera, furnished with a more or less distinct perianth. Sterile flowers 

 above : anthers commonly with a thick truncate connective. Ovary one- to 

 several-celled, with one or several ovules. Seeds mostly with fleshy albumen, 

 rarely destitute of albumen when the embryo is large and globular. — Herbs 

 with a fleshy cormus or rhizoma (in tropical countries sometimes shrubby or 

 climbing). Leaves with sheathing petioles ; the lamina mostly large, compound 

 or divided. 



