60 



Descriptive Flora 



ing out of a vertical leaf like sheath at the tip of the plant. Lower 

 leaves narrowly spatulate or oblong, entire, sheathing at base, 

 smooth except for a few hairs on the margin of the lower half. 

 Upper leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, sheathing and 

 shorter than the lower leaves. Uppermost leaf erect, forming a 

 back ground for the flowers that open one at a time out of a 

 curved cluster of buds. Upper petals 2, large, lavender-blue, 

 broadest at top. Lower petal small, white, inconspicuous. 

 Stamens 6, uppermost 3 distinctly different from the lower 3 in 

 being erect and having purplish tufts of hairs at their tips. 

 Low r er 3 curved upward at their tips, the middle one lacking the 

 tuft of hairs below the anthers and the other two bearing the 

 hairs only at their bases. Easily distinguished from Commelina 

 by the spathe being erect and never folded. 



Commelina angustifolia Michx. Virginia Day-flower. 



Widow 's Tears. 



Plants with deep blue flowers blossoming out of a boat- 

 shaped sheath. Leaves grass-like, entire, alternate, sheathing. 

 Sepals 3, very small, inconspicuous, white. Stamens 6. Upper 3 

 erect, having small, 4-lobed anthers without any pollen. Lower 3 

 pollen-bearing, the middle one incurved and with a larger anther 

 than the rest. Common in low r , shaded grounds and ravines. 

 Blossoms from March to November. Petals deliquesce into a 

 crumpled, watery mass when exposed to the sun and usually last 

 but a few hours during the morning of a single day. Dis- 

 tinguished from Commelinantia by the boat-shaped sheath out of 

 which the flowers blossom and by the absence of hairs on the 

 filaments. Named for Commelin, a Dutch botanist. 



PONTEDERIACEAE. Pickerel- Weed Family. 



Pontederia cordata L. Pickerel-weed. Wampee. 



Blue flowered, glossy-green plants rooted in mud and grow- 

 ing in big, perfectly round clusters in shallow water. Flowers 

 in a loose, heavy spike terminating a long, erect stem naked ex- 



