LILY FAMILY. 



123 



ovary. Stamens opposite the perianth-segments and free from them, 

 shorter by half and recurving; filaments subulate; anthers with con- 

 fluent cells, cordate. Styles 3, persistent, mostly curved. Capsule 

 3-celled, 3-lobed. (Latin vere, truly, and ater, black, in reference 

 to the color of the roots.) 



Perianth segments oblong-obovate or oblanceolate, entire or merely denticulate 

 near the apex; capsule oblong-ovoid, about I in long . . 1. V. Californicum. 



Perianth segments rhombic-ovate, deeply fringed except at the base; capsule 

 depressed-globose with notched apex, 4 lines long . . . . 2. V. fimbrintum. 



1. V. Californicum Durand. Stem very stout and leafy, suggest- 

 ing a corn-stalk, 3 to 5 or 6 ft. high; leaves ovate or elliptic-oblong, 

 sheathing at base, 6 to 12 in. long or the uppermost lanceolate and 

 shorter; panicle 1 to 1J ft. long, the lower portion often sterile; 

 pedicels 1 to 4 lines long; perianth-segments 7 or 8-nerved, 4 to 9 

 lines long, with a thickened greenish margin toward the base, the 

 margin near the apex often somewhat denticulate or erose; stamens 3 

 or 4 lines long; capsule nearly 1 in. to \\ in. long. 



Common in wet meadows and about springs at 5,000 to 6,000 ft. 

 altitude in the Sierra Nevada and Yallo Bally Mountains, Jepson. 



2. V. fimbriatum Gray. Similar in habit to the preceding; 

 leaves very long and narrow, 7 to 19 in. long and about 2 in. wide; 

 panicle 7 to 12 in. long, its branches widely spreading; pedicels 4 

 lines long; perianth segments rhombic-ovate, 2 to 5 lines long, the 

 margin cleft into filiform segments, except at the broad base which 

 bears two oblong more or less glandular spots reaching to the middle 

 of the segment and separated by a furrow; filaments 2 lines long; 

 styles long and slender; capsule depressed or globose and somewhat 

 notched at apex, 4 lines long, the walls membranaceous; seed scarcely 

 margined. 



Common on the so-called plains of Mendocino Co. Mr. Davy 

 reports a Veratrum as occurring at Stewart's Point, Sonoma Co., 

 which may be this species. 



15. XEROPHYLLUM Michx. 



Perennials with a thick and short woody rootstock bearing cord- 

 like roots. Radical leaves sedge-like in a dense tuft, numerous, 

 elongated and very narrowly linear, dry, serrulate. Stem simple, 

 stout and leafy, bearing a many-flowered raceme; pedicels slender, 

 white. Perianth white or cream-colored of 6 distinct, several-nerved 

 persistent segments. Stamens with rounded extrorse anthers. Ovary 

 sessile, ovate, 3-lobed. Capsule chartaceous, loculicidal, or in some 

 cases also septicidal. Seeds 2 to 4 in each cell. (Greek xeros, dry, 

 and phullon, leaf, the foliage very hard and dry.) 



1. X. tenax (Pursh) Nutt. Bear Grass. Stem 2^ to 3 ft. high, 

 exceeding the radical leaves which are 1 to 3 lines wide; raceme 

 dense, f to 1 ft. long or more; pedicels 1 to 2 in. long, each with a 

 scarious bract at base £ as long, or the lowermost bracts foliaceous and 

 exceeding the pedicels; perianth -segments linear-oblong, 4 lines long, 



