Prosartes. 



MELANTHACE.E. 



321 



6. PROSARTES. D. Don in Linn, trans. 18. p. 531. PROSARTES. 



( From the Greek, prosartao, to hang upon ; in allusion to the suspended ovules.] 

 Species of Streptopus, auct. 



Perianth 6-leaved, campanulate-spreading, deciduous ; the leaflets with a nectariferous pit, or 

 saccate at the base. Stamens 6 ; the filaments inserted at the base of the perianth : anthers 

 adnate ; the cells opening along the outer edge. Ovary 3-celled, with 2 anatropous ovules 

 suspended from the summit of each cell : style single : stigmas 3, short, recurved. Berry 

 ovoid, 3-celled. Seeds 1 or rarely 2 in each cell, oblong, without a strophiole : radicle next 

 the hilum. — Perennial pubescent herbs, with the stems dichotomously branched above. 

 Leaves alternate, sessile. Flowers terminal ; the pedicels solitary, in pairs, or umbellate. 



1. Prosartes lanuginosa, D. Don. Pale-Jloioered Prosartes. 



Leaves ovate-oblong, acuminate, clasping, ciliolate, minutely pubescerf! underneath ; pedicels 

 in pairs ; leaflets of the perianth linear- lanceolate ; style smooth. — D. Don, I. c. p. 532 ; 

 Kunth, enum. 4. p. 203. Streptopus lanuginosus, Michx.fl. 1. p. 201 ; Pursh.fl. 1. p. 132; 

 Nutt. gen. 1. p. 224 ; Ell. sk. I. p. 393 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 353 ; Beck, bot. p. 360. Uvularia 

 lanuginosa, Pers. syn. 1. p. 360 ; Bot. mag. 1409 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 174. U. pu- 

 berula, Richards, in app. Frankl. narr. p. 10, not of Michx. 



Root a tuft of thick fibres. Stem 12-18 inches high, clothed with sheaths below ; the 

 upper part unequally twice- or thrice-forked, sparsely clothed with slender crisped simple 

 hairs. Leaves 1^-3 inches long, thin, marked with 9-15 longitudinal nerves which are 

 connected by cross veins ; 3 - 5 of the nerves stronger than the others. Pedicels 6-8 lines 

 long, ofien connected at the base, pubescent. Flowers about three-fourths of an inch in dia- 

 meter, yellowish green (not spotted). Segments of the perianth a little dilated in the middle, 

 and tapering to a long point, with a small nectariferous pit at the base, at first campanulate 

 but finally spreading. Stamens half the length of the flower : filaments compressed, linear, 

 smooth : anthers linear-oblong, obtuse. Ovary obovoid, tapering into a long slender style, 

 triangular : stigmas recurved. Berry ovoid, red, obtusely triangular ; the cells mostly one- 

 seeded. Embryo minute, oblong, next the hilum. 



Woods. Cattaraugus and Monroe counties (Dr. Bradley') ; Chautauque and Erie counties 

 (Dr. Knieskern) ; near Buffalo (Dr. Kinnicutt) ; Auburn (Mr. J. Carey) ; near Rochester 

 (Dr. Harris). Fl. May - June. Fr. August. 



To this genus belongs Streptopus maculatus of Mr. Buckley* (P. maculata, Torr. & Gr.), 

 a native of the Cumberland mountains, Tennessee. 



[Flora — Vol. 2 ] 



* Silliman's Journal, 44. p. 170. 

 41 



