POPULAR FLORA. 
207 
3. Nodding T. Leaves nearly sessile, rhombic-ovate ; flower small, on a short peduncle curved 
down under the leaves; petals oblong-ovate, pointed, recurved, wavy. E. & S. T. cernuum. 
4. Erect T. or Birtiiroot. Leaves sessile, round-rhombic 
with a very abrupt point; flower on a nearly upright pe¬ 
duncle ; petals ovate, acutish, spreading, dull purple or some¬ 
times greenish-white. Common N. T. eredum. 
6. Great-flowered T. Leaves' and peduncle nearly as in 
No. 4; petals obovate, erect at the base, then gradually 
spreading much longer and broader than the sepals, white, 
turning rose-color when old. N. and W. T. grandijlbrum. 
6. Painted T. Leaves petioled, pale green, ovate, taper-pointed; 
flower on an upright peduncle; petals lance-ovate, point¬ 
ed, widely spreading, longer than the sepals, wavy, white, 
adorned with delicate pink-purple stripes at the base. Cold 
damp woods, &c. N. T. erythrocarjpum. 
Indian Cucumber-root. Medeola. 
Stem 1° to 3° high, from a white tuberous horizontal rootstock, having the taste of a cucumber, 
bearing near the middle a whorl of 5 to 9 obovate-lanceolate pointed sessile leaves, and at the top 
one of 3 ovate smaller leaves, and a few small greenish-yellow flowers in an umbel, on recurved stalks. 
Sepals and petals each 3, oblong and alike, recurved. Stamens 6: filaments longer than the anthers. 
Stigmas 3, sessile, long and thread-shaped. Ovary one, making a round 8-celled and few-seeded berry. 
One species, in damp woods; flowering in summer. M. Virginica. 
95. SPIDER WORT FAMILY. Order COMMELYNACEiE. 
Tender herbs, with alternate parallel-veined leaves sheathing at the base, and 
f perfect flowers, having 3 green or greenish sepals and 3 petals on the receptacle. 
I Pistil one, with one long style and one stigma. Pod small, 3-celled or sometimes 
\ 2-celled, few-seeded. Flowers opening in the morning for only one day, the 
\\ delicate (generally blue or purple) petals then melting away. There are two 
\ genera wild; and the Spiderwort is cultivated in every flower-garden. 
Flowers regular: the 3 petals and 6 stamens 
all alike: filaments bearded with joint¬ 
ed colored hairs : leaves lance-linear, 
sessile, all alike, ( Tradescantia) Spiderwort. 
Flowers irregular: two of the petals kidney¬ 
shaped on long claws, and one smaller: 
stamens unequal, only three of them 
with good anthers : filaments naked : 
lower leaves with sheathing footstalks, 
the uppermost sessile and somewhat 
heart-shaped, ( Commelj/na) Day-flower. 
508 507 
507. Flower of Spiderwort. 
508. Pistil, magnified; the ovary cut across. 
506. Flower of Trillium, natural size. 
