UVULARIA. 



MELANTHACE^E. 



319 



Suborder UVULARIiE. A. Gray ; Kunth. 



Flowers perfect. Perianth deciduous, 6 -leaved ; the aestivation imbricate. 

 Stamens inserted at the base of the leaflets of the perianth : anthers extrorse 

 (the back turned inward). Ovary 3-celled, with 2 or many anatropous ovules 

 in each cell : style single : stigma entire, 3-lobed or 3-cleft. Fruit capsular 

 and loculicidal, or baccate. Seeds solitary or several in each cell ; the testa 

 thin : raphe filiform or very tumid. Albumen mostly fleshy, sometimes car- 

 tilaginous. — Perennial herbs, with leafy forked stems. Leaves sessile, and 

 often clasping or perfoliate. Peduncles terminal, axillary or extra-axillary, 

 solitary, 1 - 2 — several-flowered; the flowers nodding. 



CONSPECTUS OF THE GENERA. 



5. Uvularia. Anthers linear, elongated. Ovary 3-celled, with 4 - G ovules in each cell : stigma 3-cleft. Capsule 



3-celled ; the cells 2 - 6-seeded. Seeds smooth, with a tumid raphe. 



6. Prosartes. Anthers linear-oblong. Ovary 2-celled, with 2 suspended ovules in each cell : style 3-cleft. Berry 



globose-elliptical, 1 - 2-seeded. 



7. Streptopus. Anthers subulate or 2-cleft at the summit. Ovary 3-celled, with 7-15 ovules in each cell : stigma 



nearly entire or 3-cleft. Berry 3-celled, many-seeded. 



5. UVULARIA. Linn.; Endl. gen. 1080; Kunth, enum. 4. p. 200. BELL-WORT. 



[ From the Latin, diminutive of uva, a cluster, or uvula, the appendage to the palate; but the application is not very 



evident.] 



Perianth deeply 6-parted, somewhat campanulate ; segments with a nectariferous cleft at the 

 base. Stamens 6 : filaments very short : anthers linear, erect, adnate and extrorse. Ovary 

 3-celled, with several anatropous ovules in a double series in each cell : style single, 

 3-cleft : stigmas 3, recurved. Capsule triangular, 3-celled, loculicidal. Seeds few, nearly 

 globose, with a large tumid raphe. Embryo minute, next the hilum : albumen fleshy. — 

 Perennial herbs, with alternate, entire, clasping or sometimes perfoliate leaves. Flowers 

 solitary, on axillary peduncles, nodding. 



1. Uvularia perfoliata, Linn. Perfoliate Bellwort. 



Leaves perfoliate, elliptical, mostly acute ; perianth tuberculate- rough within ; anthers 

 cuspidate ; capsule truncate. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 304 ; J. E. Smith, exot. hot. 1. p. 95. t. 49 ; 

 Bot. mag. t. 995 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 231 ; Bigel. fl. Bosl. p. 81 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 390 ; Bart, 

 fl. N. Am. 1. t. 32 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 351 ; Beck, bot. p. 361 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 222 ; 

 Hook, fl Bor.-Am. 2. p. 174 ; Kunth, enum. 4. p. 200. U. perfoliata, var. minor, Michx. 

 fl. 1. p. 199. 



Root a tuft of fleshy fibres. Stem erect, 8-10 inches high, sheathed toward the base, 

 forked above, smooth. Leaves about two inches long, perfoliate near the base. Flowers 

 mostly pendulous and solitary, from one of the forks of the stem, about three-fourths of an 



