29!2 
APETALOUS ORDERS. 
ma/rsh plants. Leaves slieathing, parallel- veined. Flowers 
solitary, or spicate, spathaceous. Perianth 6-cleft, tubnlar, 
colored, circinate in aestivation. Stamens 3 or 6, perigynous ; 
anthers introrse. Ovary free, 3-celled ; ovules numerous. 
Fruit a capsule. Seeds indefinite, attached to a central axis : 
emhryo in the axis of mealy albumen. 
Genera. — Heteranthera, Pontederia, Scbollera. 
553. Melanthace^, the Colchicum Tribe. — Bullous^ tuberous^ 
or fibrous-rooted plants. Leaves sheathing, parallel-veined. 
Perianth petaloid, in 6 pieces, distinct, or united in a tube. 
Stamens 6 ; anthers extrorse. Ovary free, 3-celled ; ovules 
numerous. Fruit a 3-celled capsule. Seeds with a membra- 
neous testa ; embryo in dense fleshy albumen. This order is 
subdivided into : 1, Yeratrae or Melanthese, dehiscence of cap- 
sule septicidal ; rhizome fibrous ; 2, Uvulariese, dehiscence of 
capsule loculicidal ; rhizome bulbous or fibrous ; 3 Colchicese, 
dehiscence septicidal ; rhizome bulbous. 
a. Properties : generally poisonous ; many species are acrid, purgative, and emet- 
ic, and some are narcotic. 
Genera. — 1. Melanthe^ — Tofieldia, Pleea, Xerophyllum, Helonias, Veratrum, 
Melanthium. 2. Uvularejs — Uvularia, Streptopus. 3. Colchice^ — Colchicum. 
554. JuNCACE^, the Push Tribe. — Herbaceous plants, with 
fascicled or fibrous roots. Leaves hollow, grooved, or flat, with 
parallel veins. Flowers small, glumaceous ; in clusters, cymes, 
or heads. Perianth 6-parted, in 2 series, generally green or 
brown. Stamens 6, inserted into the base of the segments, or 
3 and opposite the external segments. Ovary 1 or 3 celled 
Fruit capsular, 3-valved. Seeds few or many ; embryo minute 
in fleshy albumen. (See Plate YIII., Fig. 7.) 
Genera. — Luzula, Juncus, Narthecium, Zigadenus. 
555. CoMMELTNACE^, the Spiderwort Tribe. — Herbaceous 
plants. Leaves flat, narrow, usually sheathing at the base. 
Perianth in 2 verticils, outer 3-parted, herbaceous ; inner ])eta- 
loid, 3-parted, sometimes cohering at the base. Stamens 
usually 6 ; anthers 2-celled, introrse. Ovary 2 or 3 celled ; 
style 1 ; stigma 1. Fruit a capsule. Seeds often in pairs ; em- 
bryo small, puUey-shapedjiin a cavity of fleshy albumen. 
a. Properties: mucilaginous. 
Genera. — Commelyna, Tradescantia. 
556. Xyridace^, the Xyris Trihe. — Herbaceous^ sedgy plants 
with fibrous roots. Leaves radical, ensiform or filiform, sheath- 
ing at the base. Flowers in terminal, imbricated, scaly heads. 
Periamih 6-parted, in two whorls, the outer {calyx) glumaceous, 
the inner {corolla) petaloid. Stamens 6, inserted on the corolla, 
three of them bearing extrorse anthers, the others mere sterile 
