Class II. MONOCOTYLEDONOUS or ENDOGENOUS PLANTS. (continued 2)

2. E. álbidum, Nutt. (White Dog's-tooth Violet.) Leaves elliptical-lanceolate, less or not at all spotted; perianth pinkish-white; inner divisions toothless; style more slender except at the apex, bearing 3 short spreading stigmas.—Rich ground, N. Y. to N. J., west to Minn. and Kan.

3. E. propúllans, Gray. Offshoot arising from the stem, near the middle; leaves smaller and more acuminate; flowers bright rose-color, yellowish at base (6´´ long); style slender; stigmas united.—In rich soil, Minn. and Ont.

21. LÍLIUM, L. Lily.

Perianth funnel-form or bell-shaped, colored, of 6 distinct sepals, spreading or recurved above, with a honey-bearing furrow at the base, deciduous; the 6 stamens somewhat adhering to their bases. Anthers linear, extrorsely attached near the middle to the tapering apex of the long filament, which is at first included, at length versatile; the cells dehiscent by a lateral or slightly introrse line. Style elongated, somewhat club-shaped; stigma 3-lobed. Capsule oblong, containing numerous flat and horizontal (depressed) soft-coated seeds densely packed in 2 rows in each cell. Bulbs scaly, producing simple stems, with numerous alternate-scattered or whorled narrow sessile leaves, and from one to several large and showy flowers; in summer. (The classical Latin name, from the Greek λείριον.)

[*] Flowers erect, the sepals narrowed below into claws; bulbs not rhizomatous.

1. L. Philadélphicum, L. (Wild Orange-red Lily. Wood Lily.) Stem 2–3° high; leaves linear-lanceolate, whorled or scattered; flowers (2–4´ long) 1–3, open-bell-shaped, reddish-orange spotted with purplish inside; the lanceolate sepals not recurved at the summit; bulb of thick fleshy jointed scales.—Dry or sandy ground, N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn. and Mo.

2. L. Catesbæ̀i, Walt. (Southern Red Lily.) Leaves linear-lanceolate, scattered; flower solitary, open-bell-shaped, the long-clawed sepals wavy on the margin and recurved at the summit, scarlet, spotted with dark purple and yellow inside; bulb-scales thin, narrow and leaf-bearing.—Pine-barrens, N. C. to Fla., west to Ky. and Mo.

[*][*] Flowers nodding, the sepals sessile; bulbs rhizomatous.

3. L. supérbum, L. (Turk's-cap Lily.) Stem 3–7° high; lower leaves whorled, lanceolate, pointed, 3-nerved, smooth; flowers (3´ long) often many (3–20 or 40) in a pyramidal raceme; sepals strongly revolute, bright orange, with numerous dark purple spots inside.—Rich low grounds, N. Brunswick to Ga., west to Minn. and Mo.

4. L. Canadénse, L. (Wild Yellow Lily.) Stem 2–5° high; leaves remotely whorled, lanceolate, strongly 3-nerved, the margins and nerves rough; flowers few (2–3´ long), long-peduncled, oblong-bell-shaped, the sepals recurved-spreading above, yellow or orange, usually spotted with brown.—Moist meadows and bogs, N. Brunswick to Ga., west to Minn. and Mo.

5. L. Gràyi, Watson. Stems 2–3° high; leaves in whorls of 4–8, lanceolate, acute or slightly acuminate, smooth; flowers 1 or 2, nearly horizontal, the sepals (1½–2½´ long) but little spreading above the rather broad base, rather abruptly acute, deep reddish orange, thickly spotted within.—Peaks of Otter, Va., and southward in the mountains to N. C.

L. tigrìnum, Ker. (Tiger Lily.) Tall, pubescent above; leaves scattered, narrowly lanceolate, dark green, 5–7-nerved, the upper axils bulbiferous; flowers large, resembling those of L. superbum.—An escape from gardens. (Adv. from E. Asia.)

22. MEDÈOLA, Gronov. Indian Cucumber-root.

Perianth recurved, the 3 sepals and 3 petals oblong and alike (pale greenish-yellow), deciduous. Stamens 6; anthers shorter than the slender filaments, oblong, extrorsely attached above the base, but the line of dehiscence of the closely contiguous parallel cells lateral or slightly introrse. Stigmas, or styles, stigmatic down the upper side, recurved-diverging from the globose ovary, long and thread-form, deciduous. Berry globose (dark purple), 3-celled, few-seeded.—A perennial herb, with a simple slender stem (1–3° high, clothed with flocculent and deciduous wool), rising from a horizontal and tuberous white rootstock (which has the taste of cucumber), bearing near the middle a whorl of 5–9 obovate-lanceolate and pointed, sessile, lightly parallel-ribbed and netted-veiny, thin leaves; also another of 3 (rarely 4 or 5) much smaller ovate ones at the top, subtending a sessile umbel of small recurved flowers. (Named after the sorceress Medea, for its supposed great medicinal virtues.)

1. M. Virginiàna, L.—Rich damp woods, N. Eng. to Minn., Ind., and southward. June.

23. TRÍLLIUM, L. Wake Robin. Birthroot.

Sepals 3, lanceolate, spreading, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 3, larger, withering in age. Stamens 6; anthers linear, on short filaments, adnate, usually introrse; the cells opening down the margins. Stigmas sessile, awl-shaped or slender, spreading or recurved above, persistent, stigmatic down the inner side. Ovary 3–6-angled. Berry ovate, usually 6-angled or -winged, 3-celled (purple or red). Seeds ovate, horizontal, several in each cell.—Low perennial herbs, with a stout and simple stem rising from a short and præmorse tuber-like rootstock, naked, bearing at the summit a whorl of 3 ample, commonly broadly ovate, more or less ribbed but netted-veined leaves, and a terminal large flower; in spring. (Name from triplum, triple; all the parts being in threes.)—Monstrosities are not rare with the calyx and sometimes petals changed to leaves, or the parts of the flower increased in number.

[*] Ovary and fruit 6-angled and more or less winged.

[+] Flower sessile; the very broad connective produced beyond the anther-cells.

1. T. séssile, L. Leaves sessile, ovate or rhomboidal, acute, often blotched or spotted; sepals spreading; sessile petals erect-spreading, narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, dark and dull purple, varying to greenish, fruit globose, 6´´ long.—Moist woods, Penn. to Fla., west to Minn. and Ark.

2. T. recurvàtum, Beck. Leaves contracted at the base into a petiole, ovate, oblong, or obovate; sepals reflexed; petals pointed, the base narrowed into a claw, oblong-lanceolate to -ovate, dark purple; fruit ovate, strongly winged above, 9´´ long.—Rich woods, Ohio and Ind. to Minn. and Ark.

[+][+] Flower pedicelled; connective narrow, not produced; leaves subsessile.

[++] Pedicel longer than the flower; filament shorter than the anther.

3. T. eréctum, L. Leaves very broadly rhombic (2½–6´ wide), shortly acuminate; pedicel (1–3´ long) usually more or less inclined or declinate; petals ovate to lanceolate (9–18´´ long), brown-purple or often white or greenish or pinkish; stamens equalling or exceeding the stout distinct spreading or recurved stigmas; fruit ovate, 1´ long, reddish.—Rich woods, N. Scotia to N. C., west to Minn. and Mo. Flowers ill-scented.

4. T. grandiflòrum, Salisb. Leaves less broadly rhombic-ovate (1½–4´ wide); pedicel erect or ascending; petals oblanceolate, often broadly so (1½–2½´ long), white turning rose-color or marked with green; stamens with stout filaments (persistently green about the fruit) and anthers, exceeding the very slender erect or suberect and somewhat coherent stigmas; fruit globose, ½–1´ long.—Rich woods, Vt. to N. C., west to Minn. and Mo.

[++][++] Pedicel short, recurved or strongly declinate; filaments slender, about equalling the anther.

5. T. cérnuum, L. Leaves very broadly rhombic-ovate (2–4´ broad); petals white or pink, ovate- to oblong-lanceolate (6–12´´ long), wavy, recurved-spreading; stamens with short anthers, shorter than the stout recurved distinct stigmas; fruit ovate.—Moist woods, N. Eng. to Minn., south to Ga. and Mo.

[*][*] Ovary and fruit 3-lobed or angled, not winged; filaments slender, about equalling the anthers; pedicel erect or inclined; leaves petiolate.

6. T. nivàle, Riddell. (Dwarf White T.) Small (2–4´ high); leaves oval or ovate, obtuse (1–2´ long); petals oblong, obtuse (6–15´´ long), white, scarcely wavy, spreading from an erect base, equalling the peduncle; styles long and slender; fruit depressed globose, with 3 rounded lobes, 3–4´´ long.—Rich woods, W. Penn. and Ky. to Minn. and Iowa.

7. T. erythrocárpum, Michx. (Painted T.) Leaves ovate, taper-pointed; petals ovate or oval-lanceolate, pointed, wavy, widely spreading, white painted with purple stripes at the base, shorter than the peduncle; fruit broad-ovate, obtuse, 7–9´´ long.—Cold damp woods and bogs, N. Brunswick to Ga., west to Wisc. and Mo.

24. HELÒNIAS, L.

Flowers perfect. Perianth of 6 spatulate-oblong purple sepals, persistent, several-nerved, glandless, turning green, shorter than the thread-like filaments. Anthers 2-celled, roundish-oval, blue, extrorse. Styles revolute, stigmatic down the inner side, deciduous. Capsule obcordately 3-lobed, loculicidally 3-valved; the valves divergently 2-lobed. Seeds many in each cell, linear, with a tapering appendage at both ends.—A smooth perennial, with many oblong-spatulate or oblanceolate evergreen flat leaves, from a tuberous rootstock, producing in early spring a stout hollow sparsely bracteate scape (1–2° high), sheathed with broad bracts at the base, and terminated by a simple and short dense raceme. Bracts obsolete; pedicels shorter than the flowers. (Name probably from ἕλος, a swamp, the place of growth.)

1. H. bullàta, L.—Wet places, Penn. and N. J. to Va.; rare and local.

25. CHAMÆLÍRIUM, Willd. Devil's-Bit.

Flowers diœcious. Perianth of 6 spatulate-linear (white) spreading 1-nerved sepals, withering-persistent. Filaments and (white) anthers, as in Helonias; fertile flowers with rudimentary stamens. Styles linear-club-shaped, stigmatic along the inner side. Capsule ovoid-oblong, not lobed, of a thin texture, loculicidally 3-valved from the apex, many-seeded. Seeds linear-oblong, winged at each end.—Smooth herb, with a wand-like stem from a (bitter) thick and abrupt tuberous rootstock, terminated by a long wand-like spiked raceme (4–12´ long) of small bractless flowers; fertile plant more leafy than the staminate. Leaves flat, lanceolate, the lowest spatulate, tapering into a petiole. (Name formed of χαμαί on the ground, and λείριον, lily, the genus having been founded on a dwarf undeveloped specimen.)

1. C. Caroliniànum, Willd. (Blazing-Star.) Stem 1–4° high. (C. luteum, Gray.)—Low grounds, N. Eng. to Ga., west to Neb. and Ark. June.

26. XEROPHÝLLUM, Michx.

Flowers perfect. Perianth widely spreading; sepals petal-like (white), oval, distinct, without glands or claws, 5–7-nerved, at length withering, about the length of the awl-shaped filaments. Anthers 2-celled, short, extrorse. Styles thread-like, stigmatic down the inner side, persistent. Capsule globular, 3-lobed, obtuse (small), loculicidal; the valves bearing the partitions. Seeds 2 in each cell, collateral, 3-angled, not margined.—Herb with the stem simple, 1–4° high, from a thick tuberous rootstock, bearing a simple dense bracteate raceme of showy flowers, and thickly beset with needle-shaped leaves, the upper reduced to bristle-like bracts; those from the root very many in a dense tuft, reclined, a foot long or more, 1´´ wide below, rough on the margin, remarkably dry and rigid. (Name from ξηρός, arid, and φύλλον, leaf.)

1. X. setifòlium, Michx. Stem 1–4° high. (X. asphodeloides, Nutt.)—Pine-barrens, N. J. to Ga. June.

27. TOFIÈLDIA, Hudson. False Asphodel.

Flowers perfect, usually with a little 3-bracted involucre underneath. Perianth more or less spreading, persistent; the sepals (white or greenish) concave, oblong or obovate, without claws, 3-nerved. Filaments awl-shaped; anthers short, innate or somewhat introrse, 2-celled. Styles awl-shaped; stigmas terminal. Capsule 3-angular, 3-partible or septicidal; cells many-seeded. Seeds oblong, horizontal.—Slender perennials, mostly tufted, with short or creeping rhizomes, and simple stems leafy only at the base, bearing small flowers in a close raceme or spike. Leaves 2-ranked, equitant, linear, grass-like. (Named for Mr. Tofield, an English botanist of the last century.)

[*] Glabrous; pedicels solitary, in a short raceme or head; seeds not appendaged.

1. T. palústris, Hudson. Scape leafless or nearly so (2–6´ high), slender, bearing a globular or oblong head or short raceme of whitish flowers; leaves tufted, ½–1½´ long.—L. Superior, and northward. (Eu.)

[*][*] Stem and inflorescence pubescent; pedicels fascicled in threes; seeds caudate.

2. T. glutinòsa, Willd. Stem (6–16´ high) and pedicels very glutinous with dark glands; leaves broadly linear, short; perianth not becoming rigid; capsule thin; seeds with a contorted tail at each end.—Moist grounds, Maine to Minn., and northward; also south in the Alleghanies. June.

3. T. pùbens, Ait. Stem (1–3° high) and pedicels roughened with minute glands; leaves longer and narrower; perianth rigid about the firm capsule; seeds with a short white appendage at each end.—Pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Ala. July.

28. NARTHÈCIUM, Moehring. Bog-Asphodel.

Sepals 6, linear-lanceolate, yellowish, persistent. Filaments 6, woolly; anthers linear, introrse. Capsule cylindrical-oblong, attenuate upward and bearing the slightly lobed sessile stigma, loculicidal, many-seeded. Seeds ascending, appendaged at each end with a long bristle-form tail.—Rootstock creeping, bearing linear equitant leaves, and a simple stem or scape, terminated by a simple dense bracteate raceme; pedicels bearing a linear bractlet. (Name an anagram of Anthericum, from ἀνθέρικος, supposed to have been the Asphodel.)

1. N. Americànum, Ker. Stem 1° high or more; leaves 1´´ wide, 7–9-nerved; raceme dense (1–2´ long); perianth-segments narrowly linear (2–2½´´ long), scarcely exceeding the stamens. (N. ossifragum, var. Americanum, Gray.)—Sandy bogs, pine-barrens of N. J. June, July.

29. MELÁNTHIUM, Linn.

Flowers monœciously polygamous. Perianth of 6 separate and free widely spreading somewhat heart-shaped or oblong and halberd-shaped or oblanceolate sepals, raised on slender claws, cream-colored or greenish, the base marked with 2 approximate or confluent glands, or glandless, turning greenish brown and persistent. Filaments shorter than the sepals, adhering to their claws often to near the summit, persistent. Anthers heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, confluently 1-celled, shield-shaped after opening, extrorse. Styles 3, awl-shaped, diverging, tipped with simple stigmas. Capsule ovoid-conical, 3-lobed, of 3 inflated membranaceous carpels united in the axis, separating when ripe, and splitting down the inner edge, several-seeded. Seeds flat, broadly winged.—Stems tall and leafy, from a thick rootstock, roughish-downy above, as well as the open and ample pyramidal panicle (composed chiefly of simple racemes), the terminal part mostly fertile. Leaves linear to oblanceolate or oval, not plaited. (Name composed of μέλας, black, and ἄνθος, flower, from the darker color which the persistent perianth assumes after blossoming.)

[*] Sepals with a conspicuous double gland at the summit of the claw.

1. M. Virgínicum, L. (Bunch-flower.) Stem 3–5° high, leafy, rather slender; leaves linear (4–10´´ wide); sepals flat, ovate to oblong or slightly hastate (2½–4´´ long); capsule 6´´ long; seeds 10 in each cell, 2–3´´ long.—Wet meadows, N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn. and Tex.

2. M. latifòlium, Desrouss. Leaves more oblanceolate, often 2´ broad; sepals undulate (2–3´´ long), the very narrow claw nearly equalling the orbicular or ovate blade; capsule 6–8´´ long; styles more slender; seeds 4–8 in each cell, 3–4´´ long. (M. racemosum, Michx.)—W. Conn. to S. C.

[*][*] Sepals oblanceolate, without glands.

3. M. parviflòrum, Watson. Stem rather slender (2–5° high), sparingly leafy, naked above; leaves oval to oblanceolate (2–4´ wide), on long petioles; sepals 2–3´´ long, oblanceolate or spatulate, those of the sterile flowers on claws; stamens very short; capsule 6´´ long; seeds 4–6 in each cell, 4´´ long. (Veratrum parviflorum, Michx.)—In the Alleghanies, Va. to S. C.

30. VERÀTRUM, Tourn. False Hellebore.

Flowers monœciously polygamous. Perianth of 6 spreading and separate obovate-oblong (greenish or brownish) sepals, more or less contracted at the base (but not clawed), nearly free from the ovary, not gland-bearing. Filaments free from the sepals and shorter than they, recurving. Anthers, pistils, fruit, etc., nearly as in Melanthium.—Somewhat pubescent perennials, with simple stems from a thickened base producing coarse fibrous roots (very poisonous), 3-ranked, plaited and strongly veined leaves, and racemed-panicled dull or dingy flowers; in summer. (Name from vere, truly, and ater, black.)

1. V. víride, Ait. (American White Hellebore. Indian Poke.) Stem stout, very leafy to the top (2–7° high); leaves broadly oval, pointed, sheath-clasping; panicle pyramidal, the dense spike-like racemes spreading; perianth yellowish-green, moderately spreading, the segments ciliate-serrulate; ovary glabrous; capsule many-seeded.—Swamps and low grounds, common.

2. V. Woódii, Robbins. Stem slender, sparingly leafy (2–5° high); leaves oblanceolate, only the lowest sheathing; panicle very narrow; perianth greenish-purple, with entire segments; ovary tomentose, soon glabrate; capsule few-seeded.—Woods and hilly barrens, S. Ind. to Mo.

31. STENÁNTHIUM, Gray.

Flowers polygamous. Perianth spreading; the sepals narrowly lanceolate, tapering to a point from the broader base, where they are united and coherent with the base of the ovary, not gland-bearing, persistent, much longer than the short stamens. Anthers, capsules, etc., nearly as in Veratrum. Seeds nearly wingless.—Smooth, with a wand-like leafy stem from a bulbous base, long and grass-like conduplicate-keeled leaves, and numerous small flowers in compound racemes, forming a long terminal panicle; in summer. (Name composed of στενός, narrow, and ἄνθος, flower, from the slender sepals and panicles.)

1. S. angustifòlium, Gray. Stem leafy (3–4° high), very slender; leaves 2–3´´ broad; panicle elongated, nearly simple, very open, with slender flexuous branches; flowers nearly sessile or the fertile on short pedicels; sepals linear-lanceolate (white), 2–3´´ long; capsule strongly reflexed, narrowly oblong-ovate, with spreading beaks.—In the Alleghanies from Va. to S. C.

2. S. robústum, Watson. Resembling the last; stem stout, leafy, erect (3–5° high); leaves 4–10´´ broad; panicle or raceme often 2° long, frequently compound with numerous slender branches; sepals (white or green) 3–4´´ long; capsule erect, ovate, with recurved beaks.—Penn. to S. C., Ohio and Tenn.

32. ZYGADÈNUS, Michx.

Flowers perfect or polygamous. Perianth withering-persistent, spreading; the petal-like oblong or ovate sepals 1–2-glandular near the more or less narrowed but not unguiculate base, which is either free, or united and coherent with the base of the ovary. Stamens free from the sepals and about their length. Anthers, styles, and capsule nearly as in Melanthium. Seeds angled, rarely at all margined.—Very smooth and somewhat glaucous perennials, with simple stems from creeping rootstocks or coated bulbs, linear leaves, and rather large panicled greenish-white flowers; in summer. (Name composed of ζυγός, a yoke, and ἀδήν, a gland, the glands being sometimes in pairs.)

[*] Glands on the perianth conspicuous.

[+] Rootstock creeping; glands 2, orbicular, above the broad claw.

1. Z. glabérrimus, Michx. Stems 1–3° high; leaves grass-like, channelled, conspicuously nerved, elongated, tapering to a point; panicle pyramidal, many-flowered; flowers perfect; sepals nearly free (½´ long), ovate, becoming lance-ovate, with a short claw.—Grassy low grounds, Va. to Fla. and Ala.

[+][+] Root bulbous; glands covering the base of the sepals.

2. Z. élegans, Pursh. Stem 1–3° high; leaves flat, carinate; raceme simple or sparingly branched and few-flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate; base of the perianth coherent with the base of the ovary, the thin ovate or obovate sepals marked with a large obcordate gland, the inner abruptly contracted to a broad claw. (Z. glaucus, Nutt.)—N. Eng. to N. Ill., Minn., and westward.

3. Z. Nuttàllii, Gray. Like the last; raceme rather densely flowered, with narrow bracts; perianth free; sepals with an ill-defined gland at base, not at all clawed; seeds larger (3´´ long).—Kan. to Tex. and Col.

[*][*] Glands of the perianth obscure; perianth small, rotate; bulb somewhat fibrous.

4. Z. leimanthoìdes, Gray. Stem 1–4° high, slender; leaves narrowly linear; flowers small (4´´ in diameter) and numerous, in a few crowded panicled racemes; only a yellowish spot on the contracted base of the divisions of the free perianth.—Low grounds, pine-barrens of N. J., to Ga.

33. AMIÁNTHIUM, Gray. Fly-Poison.

Flowers perfect. Perianth widely spreading; the distinct and free petal-like (white) sepals oval or obovate, without claws or glands, persistent. Filaments capillary, equalling or exceeding the perianth. Anthers, capsules, etc., nearly as in Melanthium. Styles thread-like. Seeds wingless, oblong or linear, with a loose coat, 1–4 in each cell.—Glabrous, with simple stems from a bulbous base or coated bulb, scape-like, few-leaved, terminated by a simple dense raceme of handsome flowers, turning greenish with age. Leaves linear, keeled, grass-like. (From ἀμίαντος, unspotted, and ἄνθος, flower; a name formed with more regard to euphony than to good construction, alluding to the glandless perianth.)

1. A. muscætóxicum, Gray. (Fly-Poison.) Leaves broadly linear, elongated, obtuse (½–1´ wide); raceme simple; capsule abruptly 3-horned; seeds oblong, with a fleshy red coat.—Open woods, N. J. to Fla., west to Ky. and Ark. June, July.

Order 117. PONTEDERIÀCEÆ. (Pickerel-weed Family.)

Aquatic herbs, with perfect more or less irregular flowers from a spathe; the petal-like 6-merous perianth free from the 3-celled ovary; the 3 or 6 mostly unequal or dissimilar stamens inserted in its throat.—Perianth with the 6 divisions colored alike, imbricated in 2 rows in the bud, the whole together sometimes revolute-coiled after flowering, then withering away, or the base thickened-persistent and enclosing the fruit. Anthers introrse. Ovules anatropous. Style 1; stigma 3-lobed or 6-toothed. Fruit a perfectly or incompletely 3-celled many-seeded capsule, or a 1-celled 1-seeded utricle. Embryo slender, in floury albumen.

1. Pontederia. Spike many-flowered. Perianth 2-lipped, its fleshy persistent base enclosing the 1-seeded utricle. Stamens 6.

2. Heteranthera. Spathe 1–few-flowered. Perianth salver-shaped. Stamens 3. Capsule many-seeded.

1. PONTEDÈRIA, L. Pickerel-weed.

Perianth funnel-form, 2-lipped; the 3 upper divisions united to form the 3-lobed upper lip; the 3 lower spreading, and their claws, which form the lower part of the curving tube, more or less separate or separable to the base; after flowering the tube is revolute-coiled from the apex downward, and its fleshy-thickened persistent base encloses the fruit. Stamens 6; the 3 anterior long-exserted; the 3 posterior (often sterile or imperfect) with very short filaments, unequally inserted lower down; anthers versatile, oval, blue. Ovary 3-celled; two of the cells empty, the other with a single suspended ovule. Utricle 1-celled, filled with the single seed.—Stout herbs, growing in shallow water, with thick creeping rootstocks, producing erect long-petioled mostly heart-shaped leaves, and a 1-leaved stem, bearing a spike of violet-blue ephemeral flowers. Root-leaves with a sheathing stipule within the petiole. (Dedicated to Pontedera, Professor at Padua at the beginning of the last century.)

1. P. cordàta, L. Leaves arrow-heart-shaped, blunt, or sometimes triangular-elongated and tapering and scarcely cordate (var. angustifòlia, Torr.); spike dense, from a spathe-like bract; upper lobe of perianth marked with a pair of yellow spots (rarely all white); calyx-tube in fruit crested with 6 toothed ridges.—N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn. and Tex. July–Sept.

2. HETERANTHÈRA, Ruiz & Pav. Mud-Plantain.

Perianth salver-form with a slender tube; the limb somewhat equally 6-parted, ephemeral. Stamens 3, in the throat, usually unequal; anthers erect. Capsule 1-celled or incompletely 3-celled by intrusion of the placentæ, many-seeded.—Creeping, floating or submerged low herbs, in mud or shallow water, with a 1–few-flowered spathe bursting from the sheathing side or base of a petiole. (Name from ἑτέρα, different, and ἀνθηρά, anther.)

[*] Stamens unequal; 2 posterior filaments with ovate yellow anthers; the other longer, with a larger oblong or sagittate greenish anther; capsule incompletely 3-celled; leaves rounded, long-petioled; creeping or floating plants.

1. H. renifórmis, Ruiz & Pav. Leaves round-kidney-shaped to cordate and acute; spathe 3–5-flowered; flowers white or pale blue.—Conn. to N. J., west to Ill. and E. Kan., and southward. (S. Am.)

2. H. limòsa, Vahl. Leaves oblong or lance-oblong, obtuse at both ends; spathe 1-flowered; flowers larger, blue.—Va. to Mo. and La. (S. Am.)

[*][*] Stamens alike, with sagittate anthers; capsule 1-celled, with 3 parietal placentæ; leaves linear, translucent, sessile; submerged grass-like herbs, with only the flowers reaching the surface.

3. H. gramínea, Vahl. The slender branching stems clothed with leaves and bearing a terminal 1-flowered spathe (becoming lateral); flowers small, pale yellow, with a very long thread-like tube. (Schollera graminifolia, Willd.)—N. Eng. to N. C., west to Minn. and E. Kan.

Order 118. XYRIDÀCEÆ. (Yellow-eyed-grass Family.)

Rush-like herbs, with equitant leaves sheathing the base of a naked scape, which is terminated by a head of perfect 3-androus flowers, with extrorse anthers, glumaceous calyx, and a regular colored corolla; the 3-valved mostly 1-celled capsule containing several or many orthotropous seeds with a minute embryo at the apex of fleshy albumen.

1. XỲRIS, Gronov. Yellow-eyed Grass.

Flowers single in the axils of coriaceous scale-like bracts, which are densely imbricated in a head. Sepals 3; the 2 lateral glume-like, boat-shaped or keeled and persistent; the anterior one larger and membranaceous, enwrapping the corolla in the bud and deciduous with it. Petals 3, with claws, which cohere more or less. Fertile stamens 3, with linear anthers, inserted on the claws of the petals, alternating with 3 sterile filaments, which are cleft and in our species plumose or bearded at the apex. Style 3-cleft. Capsule oblong, free, 1-celled, with 3 parietal more or less projecting placentæ, 3-valved, many-seeded.—Flowers yellow, produced all summer. Ours apparently all perennials. (Ξυρίς, a name of some plant with 2-edged leaves, from ξυρόν, a razor.)

1. X. flexuòsa, Muhl. Scape slender (10–16´ high), barely flattened at the summit, often from a bulbous base, very smooth, much longer than the narrowly linear leaves, both commonly twisted with age; head roundish-ovoid (3–4´´ long); lateral sepals oblong lanceolate, finely ciliate-scarious on the narrow wingless keel, usually with a minute bearded tuft at the apex, shorter than the bract.—Sandy or peaty bogs, Mass. to Fla., west to Minn. and Mo.

Var. pusìlla, Gray. Small and very slender, seldom twisted, 2–9´ high, the base not bulbous; head 2–3´´ long.—White Mts. to Penn., west to L. Superior.

2. X. tórta, Smith. Scape terete, with one sharp edge, slender, 9–20´ high, from a dark bulbous base, and with the linear-filiform rigid leaves becoming spirally twisted; head ovoid, becoming spindle-shaped, or oblong and acute (5–9´´ long); sepals exceeding the bract; lateral sepals winged on the keel and fringed above the middle.—Pine barrens, in dry sand, N. J. to Fla., Tex. and Ark.

3. X. Caroliniàna, Walt. Scape flattish, 1-angled below, 2-edged at the summit, smooth, ½–2° high, the base hardly bulbous; leaves linear-sword-shaped, flat, 2–4´´ broad; head globular-ovoid (5–7´´ long); lateral sepals obscurely lacerate-fringed above on the winged keel, rather shorter than the bract.—Sandy swamps, near the coast, Mass. to Fla.

4. X. fimbriàta, Ell. Scape somewhat angled, 2-edged above, rough (2° high), rather longer than the linear-sword-shaped or strap-shaped leaves, the base not bulbous; head oblong-ovate (6–10´´ long); lateral sepals lanceolate-linear, nearly twice the length of the bract, above the middle conspicuously fringed on the wing-margined keel, and even plumose at the summit.—Pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

Order 119. MAYÀCEÆ. (Mayaca Family.)

Moss-like aquatic plants, densely leafy, with narrowly-linear sessile pellucid leaves, axillary naked peduncles terminated by a solitary perfect 3-androus flower, herbaceous calyx, white corolla, and a 3-valved 1-celled several-seeded capsule.

1. MAYÀCA, Aublet.

The only genus. Perianth persistent, of 3 herbaceous lanceolate sepals, and 3 obovate petals. Stamens alternate with the petals. Ovary with 3 parietal few-ovuled placentæ; style filiform; stigma simple.—Creeping or floating in shallow water; the leaves 1-nerved, entire, notched at the apex; the peduncle solitary, sheathed at base. (An aboriginal name.)

1. M. Michaùxii, Schott & Endl. Peduncles not much exceeding the leaves, nodding in fruit.—Va. to Fla. and Tex.

Order 120. COMMELINÀCEÆ. (Spiderwort Family.)

Herbs, with fibrous or sometimes thickened roots, jointed and often branching leafy stems, and chiefly perfect and 6-androus, often irregular flowers, with the perianth free from the 2–3-celled ovary, and having a distinct calyx and corolla; viz., 3 persistent commonly herbaceous sepals, and 3 petals, ephemeral, decaying or deciduous. Stamens hypogynous, some of them often sterile; anthers with 2 separated cells. Style 1; stigma undivided. Capsule 2–3-celled, 2–3-valved, loculicidal, 3–several-seeded. Seeds orthotropous. Embryo small, pulley-shaped, partly sunk in a shallow depression at the apex of the albumen. Leaves ovate, lanceolate or linear, parallel-veined, flat, sheathed at base; the uppermost often dissimilar and forming a kind of spathe.—Chiefly tropical.

1. Commelina. Cyme sessile within a cordate or connate bract (spathe). Petals unequal. Perfect stamens 3; filaments naked.

2. Tradescantia. Bracts leaf-like or small and scarious. Petals equal. Perfect stamens 6; filaments bearded.

1. COMMELÌNA, Dill. Day-flower.

Flowers irregular. Sepals somewhat colored, unequal; the 2 lateral partly united by their contiguous margins. Two lateral petals rounded or kidney-shaped, on long claws, the odd one smaller. Stamens unequal, 3 of them fertile, one of which is bent inward; 3 of them sterile and smaller, with imperfect cross-shaped anthers; filaments naked. Capsule 3-celled, two of the cells 2-seeded, the other 1-seeded or abortive.—Stems branching, often procumbent and rooting at the joints. Leaves contracted at base into sheathing petioles; the floral one heart-shaped and clasping, folded together or hooded, forming a spathe enclosing the flowers, which expand for a single morning and are recurved on their pedicel before and afterwards. Petals blue. Flowering all summer. Ours all with perennial roots, or propagating by striking root from the joints. (Dedicated to the early Dutch botanists. J. and G. Commelin.)

[*] Ventral cells 2-ovuled (usually 2-seeded), the dorsal 1-ovuled.

1. C. nudiflòra, L. Slender and creeping, glabrous; leaves lanceolate, small (1–2´ long); spathe cordate, acute, with margins not united; seeds reticulated. (C. Cayennensis, Richard.)—Alluvial banks, Del. to Fla., west to Ind., Mo. and Tex.

2. C. hirtélla, Vahl. Stout, erect (2–4° high); leaves large, lanceolate, the sheaths brown-bearded; spathes crowded, with margins united; seeds smooth. (C. erecta, Gray, Man., not L.)—River-banks, Penn. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.

[*][*] Cells 1-ovuled, 1-seeded; seeds smooth; spathe cucullate; roots sub-tuberous.

3. C. erécta, L. Slender, often low; leaves linear; cells all dehiscent.—Penn. to Fla.

4. C. Virgínica, L. Slender, usually tall; leaves lanceolate to linear; dorsal cell indehiscent, scabrous.—Damp rich woods and banks, southern N. Y. to Fla., west to Mich., Iowa, and Mo.

2. TRADESCÁNTIA, L. Spiderwort.

Flowers regular. Sepals herbaceous. Petals all alike, ovate, sessile. Stamens all fertile; filaments bearded. Capsule 2–3-celled, the cells 1–2-seeded.—Perennials. Stems mucilaginous, mostly upright, nearly simple, leafy. Leaves keeled. Flowers ephemeral, in umbelled clusters, axillary and terminal, produced through the summer; floral leaves nearly like the others. (Named for the elder Tradescant, gardener to Charles the First of England.)

[*] Umbels terminal or sometimes lateral, sessile, subtended by 1 or 2 leaf-like bracts; leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, flowers blue.

1. T. Virgínica, L. (Common Spiderwort.) Roots fleshy-fibrous, smooth or only slightly villous, more or less glaucous, often tall and slender and with linear leaves, rather rarely with 1 or 2 long lateral peduncles; bracts usually a pair.—Rich ground, N. Y. to Fla., west to Minn., Tex., and the Rocky Mts. Very variable.—Var. villòsa, Watson. Often dwarf, more or less villous throughout as well as pubescent. Mississippi valley and Gulf States.—Var. flexuòsa, Watson. Stout and dark green, with large linear-lanceolate pubescent leaves, the stem usually flexuous, and with several short lateral branches or sessile axillary heads. (T. flexuosa, Raf.)—Ohio to Ky. and Ga. T. pilosa, Lehm., is an intermediate form.

[*][*] Umbel pedunculate, subtended by small subscarious bracts; flowers small, rose-color.

2. T. ròsea, Vent. Small, slender (6–10´ high), smooth, erect from a running rootstock; leaves very narrowly linear, grass-like.—Sandy woods, Md. to Fla., west to Ky. and Mo.

Order 121. JUNCÀCEÆ. (Rush Family.)

Grass-like or rush-like herbs, with small flowers, a regular and hypogynous persistent perianth of 6 similar glumaceous sepals, 6 or rarely 3 stamens with 2-celled anthers, a single short style, 3 filiform hairy stigmas, and an ovary either 3-celled or 1-celled with 3 parietal placentæ, forming a loculicidal 3-valved capsule. Seeds anatropous, with a minute embryo enclosed at the base of the fleshy albumen.—Flowers liliaceous in structure, but sedge-like in aspect and texture.

1. Juncus. Capsule 3-celled (or imperfectly so), many-seeded. Plants never hairy, in moist ground or water.

2. Luzula. Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded. Plant, often hairy, in dry ground.

1. JÚNCUS, Tourn. Rush. Bog-rush.

Capsule many-seeded, 3-celled, or 1-celled by the placentæ not reaching the axis. Stamens when 3 opposite the 3 outer sepals.—Chiefly perennials, and in wet soil or water, with pithy or hollow and simple (rarely branching) stems, and panicled or clustered small (greenish or brownish) flowers, chiefly in summer. Plant never hairy. (The classical name, from jungo, to join, alluding to the use of the stems for bands.)

§ 1. Stems leafless and scape-like, from matted running rootstocks, sheathed at base; the sheaths sometimes bearing terete knotless leaves like the scape; flowers in sessile apparently lateral panicles, the involucral leaf being similar to and continuing the scape.—Juncus proper.

[*] Flowers solitary on the pedicels or ultimate ramifications of the panicle.

[+] Sheaths at base of the stem leafless.

[++] Stamens 3.

1. J. effùsus, L. (Common or Soft Rush.) Scape soft and pliant (2–4° high); inner sheaths awned; panicle diffusely much branched, many-flowered; flowers small (1¼´´ long), greenish; sepals lanceolate, very acute, as long as the narrow triangular-obovate retuse and pointless greenish-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style very short; seeds small (about ¼´´ long), with short pale points.—Marshy ground, very common. (Eu.)—Var. conglomeràtus, Engelm. Scape more distinctly striate; panicle closely crowded; capsule short-pointed. In sphagnous swamps.

[++][++] Stamens 6.

2. J. filifórmis, L. Scape very slender (1–2° high), pliant; panicle few-flowered, almost simple; flowers 1½´´ long; sepals lanceolate, the inner a little shorter and less acute, longer than the broadly ovate obtuse but mucronate greenish capsule; anthers shorter than the filaments; style very short; seed (less than {1/3}´´ long) short-pointed at both ends, indistinctly reticulated.—N. Eng. to Mich., Neb., and northward. (Eu.)

3. J. Smíthii, Engelm. Scape rather slender (2–3° high); panicle few-flowered, nearly simple; flowers brown (1¼´´ long); outer sepals lanceolate, acute, the inner a little shorter, obtusish, shorter than the broadly ovate rather triangular acute deep chestnut-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style short; seeds large ({1/3}´´ long or more), obtuse, short-appendaged at both ends, many-ribbed and reticulated.—Sphagnous swamps, on Broad Mt. and in Lebanon Co., Penn.

4. J. Bálticus, Dethard, var. littoràlis, Engelm. Scape rigid (2–3° high); panicle loose; flowers larger (2´´ long), chestnut-brown with green; sepals ovate-lanceolate, the outer sharp-pointed, the inner obtusish, as long as the elliptical rather triangular obtuse and mucronate deep brown capsule; anthers much longer than the broad filaments; style about the length of the ovary; seeds rather large (½´´ long or more), nearly obtuse, delicately ribbed and cross lined.—Sandy shores, Newf. to Mass., west to Penn., along the Great Lakes, and westward.—Var. montànus, Engelm. Sepals nearly equal; anthers 4 times longer than the filament; capsule ovate-pyramidal, angled, beaked; seeds smaller, narrower, apiculate.—Minn., west and northward.

[+][+] Innermost sheaths leaf-bearing; stamens 6.

5. J. setàceus, Rostkovius. Scape slender (1–3° high); panicle loose, rather few-flowered; flowers greenish (2´´ long); sepals lanceolate, sharp-pointed, especially the 3 shining exterior ones, spreading in fruit, as long as the nearly globose beak-pointed greenish or light-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style conspicuous; seeds ({1/3}´´ long) almost globose, ribbed and cross-lined.—Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and La.

[*][*] Flowers in clusters, 6-androus; innermost sheaths at base of stem leaf-bearing.

6. J. Rœmeriànus, Scheele. Scape stout and rigid (2–3° high), its apex as well as the leaves pungent; panicle compound, open and spreading, brown; 3–6 greenish or light-brown flowers (1½´´ long) in a cluster; outer sepals lanceolate, sharp-pointed, longer than the obtusish inner ones, as long as the elliptical rather triangular obtuse mucronate brown capsule; anthers much longer than the broad filaments; styles shorter than the ovary; seeds ({1/3}´´ long) oval, obtuse, very delicately ribbed.—Brackish marshes, N. J. to Fla. and Tex.

7. J. marítimus, L. Resembling the last, but with a rigid contracted green panicle, an ovary attenuated into a style of nearly its own length, a greenish acute capsule which usually exceeds the acute sepals, and seeds with distinct tails and stronger ribs.—Known in this country only from Coney Island, N. Y., where it is apparently indigenous. (Eu.)

§ 2. Stems simple (rarely branched), leafy at base or throughout; leaves flat, or somewhat terete or setaceous and channelled, never knotted; panicle or head terminal.—Grassy-leaved Junci.

[*] Flowers in close heads (produced in late summer).

[+] Leaves thread-like, hollow; stamens 6; seeds few, large and caudate; the single head (sometimes 2) 1–4-flowered.

8. J. stýgius, L. Stems slender (6–16´ high) from slender branching rootstocks, 1–3-leaved below, naked above; heads 1 or rarely 2, of 3–4-flowers, about the length of the sheathing scarious awl-pointed bract; flowers pale and reddish (2½–3´´ long); sepals lanceolate, the inner obtusish, ¾ the length of the oblong acuminate capsule, as long as the slender stamens; filaments many times longer than the oblong anthers; recurved stigmas shorter than the style; seeds oblong, with a very loose coat prolonged at both ends (1½´´ long).—Peat-bogs, Newf. to northern N. Y., west to Mich. and N. Minn. (Eu.)

9. J. trífidus, L. Stems densely tufted from matted creeping rootstocks, erect (5–10´ high), sheathed and mostly leafless at base, 2–3-leaved at the summit, the upper thread-like leaves subtending the sessile head; flowers brown (1½–2´´ long); sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, equalling or rather shorter than the ovate beak-pointed deep brown capsule; anthers much longer than the filaments; seeds few, oblong, angled (1´´ long), short-tailed.—Alpine summits of N. Eng. and N. Y., and far northward; also in N. J. (Eu.)

[+][+] Leaves flat and grass-like; stamens 3; stems flattened, simple, leafy.

10. J. rèpens, Michx. Stems ascending (4–6´ high) from a fibrous annual root, at length creeping or floating; leaves short, linear, those of the stem nearly opposite and fascicled; heads few in a loose leafy panicle, 3–12-flowered; flowers green (3´´ long); sepals rigid, lance-subulate, slender-pointed, the 3 outer as long as the linear triangular obtuse capsule, the inner much longer; stamens as long as the outer sepals; filaments many times longer than the oblong anthers; seeds small ({1/5}´´ long), obovate, slightly pointed, very delicately ribbed and cross-lined.—Miry banks, Md. to Fla. and La.

11. J. marginàtus, Rostk. Stem erect, from a bulbous and stoloniferous base (1–3° high); leaves long-linear; heads 3–8-flowered, panicled; flowers purplish with green (1½´´ long); sepals oblong, the 3 outer acute and slightly awned, the inner longer, mostly obtuse, as long as the almost globular scarcely mucronate capsule; stamens exceeding the outer sepals; purple anthers shorter than the filaments; style very short; seeds (¼–{1/3}´´ long) slender, pointed at both ends and strongly ribbed.—Moist sandy places, S. New Eng. to Fla., west to Mich., Mo., and Tex.—Var. paucicapitàtus, Engelm., has few large 8–15-flowered heads; and var. biflòrus, Engelm., has numerous small 2–3-flowered heads in much-branched panicles.

[*][*] Flowers solitary, panicled; stamens 6.

[+] Stems slender, simple, tufted, leafy below; root perennial (fl. early in summer).

[++] Seeds tail-pointed at both ends.

12. J. Vàseyi, Engelm. Stems rigid (1–2½° high); leaves nearly terete, very slightly channelled on the inner side; panicle longer than the involucral leaf, loose; flowers few, often one-sided, greenish or light brown (2´´ long or more); sepals lanceolate, acute, appressed, shorter than the oblong and retuse green-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style very short; seeds slender (½–{2/3}´´ long), closely ribbed.—N. Maine (Pringle); Mich. to Iowa and westward.

13. J. Greénii, Oakes & Tuckerm. Stems rigid (1–2° high); leaves nearly terete, very deeply channelled (almost involute) on the inner side; panicle usually much shorter than the principal erect involucral leaf, dense, the numerous flowers often one-sided (1¾´´ long); sepals lanceolate, acute, light greenish-brown, appressed, shorter than the ovoid-oblong obtuse greenish-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style very short; seeds ovoid ({1/3}–{2/5}´´ long), ribbed and delicately cross-lined.—Sandy coast of N. Eng., N. Y., and N. J., and on the east shore of Lake Michigan.

[++][++] Seeds merely apiculate at both ends.

14. J. ténuis, Willd. Stem wiry (9–18´ high); leaves flat or channelled; panicle shorter than the involucral leaves, loose, or rarely crowded; flowers green (2´´ long or more); sepals lanceolate, very acute, spreading in fruit, longer than the ovoid retuse scarcely pointed green capsule; anthers nearly equal to the filaments; style very short; seeds small (about ¼´´ long), delicately ribbed and cross-lined.—Fields and roadsides, very common. (Eu.)—Var. secúndus, Engelm.; flowers smaller, secund along the incurved branches. N. Eng. to Penn. and Del.—Var. congéstus, Engelm.; branches contracted into a head and the flowers darker-colored. Minn. and westward.

15. J. dichótomus, Ell. Stems rigid (1½–2° high) from a tumid base; leaves filiform, nearly terete, slightly grooved on the inner side; panicle loose, often with 1-sided forked branches, mostly longer than the involucral leaf; flowers greenish (2´´ long or more); sepals lanceolate, sharp-pointed, spreading in fruit, as long as the globular beaked light mahogany-colored capsule; anthers nearly as long as the filaments; style short; seeds small ({1/5}–¼´´ long), coarsely cross-lined.—Low sandy grounds, N. J. to Fla.

16. J. Gerárdi, Loisel. (Black-Grass.) Stems scarcely flattened, rigid (1–2° high); panicle contracted, usually longer than the bracteal leaf; flowers chestnut-brown with green (1¾´´ long); sepals oval-oblong, obtuse, incurved, as long as the oval obtuse and mucronate capsule; anthers much longer than the short filaments; style as long as the ovary; seeds (nearly {1/3}´´ long) obovate, delicately ribbed and cross-lined.—Salt marshes; common along the coast and in W. New York; rare about the Great Lakes. (Eu.)

[+][+] Stems branched, diffuse, leafy; root annual, fibrous.

17. J. bufònius, L. Stems low and slender (3–9´ high), leafy, often branched from the base; panicle spreading, mostly with one-sided dichotomous branches; flowers remote, greenish (2–3½´´ long); sepals linear-lanceolate, awl-pointed, the 3 outer much exceeding the inner and the oblong obtuse capsule; stamens short; filaments scarcely longer than the anthers, seeds elliptical, obtuse ({1/5}–{1/6}´´ long).—Low grounds, by roadsides; common. (Eu.)

§ 3. Stems leafy; leaves terete or laterally flattened, more or less distinctly knotted by internal transverse partitions; panicle terminal, with flowers chiefly in heads.—Knotty-leaved Junci.

[*] Seeds barely pointed, not caudate.

[+] Flowers solitary or 2 together, panicled; stamens 6.

18. J. pelocárpus, E. Meyer. Stems slender and erect from a slender running rootstock (6–18´ high), bearing few thread-like slightly knotted leaves, branching above into a compound spreading panicle, bearing the flowers in the forks and along one side of the branches; often with the flowers or in place of them are tufts of leaves; flowers small (1–1¼´´ long), greenish with red; sepals oblong, obtuse, the 3 inner ones longer, but shorter than the oblong taper-beaked, 1-celled capsule; anthers much longer than the filaments; style slender; seeds (¼´´ long) obovate, short-pointed.—Sandy, wet or swampy places, Newf. to Fla., west along the Great Lakes to Minn. The proliferous plants are usually sterile and much larger, with larger diffuse panicles.—Var. súbtilis, Engelm. Creeping or floating, with a single pair of flowers at the end of the short stems.—Somerset Co., Maine (C. E. Smith); Canada.

[+][+] Heads numerous, of 3–12-flowers (rarely more); in early summer.

[++] Stamens 6.

19. J. articulàtus, L. Stems ascending or erect (9–15´ high), tufted from a short creeping rootstock, with 1 or 2 slender leaves; panicle short, spreading, the crowded heads 3–8-flowered; flowers brown, rarely pale (1¼–1½´´ long); sepals lance-oblong, acute or mucronate, or the 3 inner obtuse and a little longer, shorter than the ovate-oblong acute or abruptly mucronate-pointed incompletely 3-celled commonly deep chestnut-brown shining capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; ovary attenuate into a short style; seeds (less than {1/3}´´ long) obovate, attenuate below, abruptly pointed above.—Wet grounds, Newf. to Del., west to western N. Y. and Mich. (Eu.)

20. J. alpìnus, Villars, var. insígnis, Fries. Stems erect (9–18´ high) from a creeping rootstock, with 1 or 2 slender leaves; panicle meagre, with erect branches bearing distant greenish or light-brown heads, each of 3–6 flowers (1¼–1½´´ long); sepals oblong, obtuse, the outer mucronate or cuspidate and usually longer than the rounded inner ones, as long as or shorter than the obtuse short-pointed incompletely 3-celled light-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style short; seeds ({1/3}´´ or more in length) spindle-shaped.—Wet sandy banks, L. Champlain, Cayuga Lake, along the Great Lakes, and far west and northward. (Eu.)

21. J. militàris, Bigel. Stem stout (2–4° high) from a thick creeping rootstock, bearing a solitary stout erect leaf (½–3½° long) below the middle, which overtops the crowded and rather contracted panicle; heads numerous, 5–12- (rarely 25-) flowered; flowers brownish (1½´´ long); sepals lanceolate, the outer awl-pointed, as long as the ovate-oblong triangular taper-beaked 1-celled capsule; anthers longer than the filaments; ovary attenuate into a slender style; seeds (¼–{1/3}´´ long) globose-obovate, obtuse, abruptly pointed.—In bogs and streams, Maine to Md. Sometimes producing, in flowing water, numberless capillary submersed leaves, 2–3° long, from the rootstock.

[++][++] Stamens 3.

22. J. acuminàtus, Michx. Stems tufted, erect, slender (1–2° long), bearing about 2 leaves and a very loose spreading panicle; heads rather few and large, 5–many-flowered, greenish, at length straw-colored or darker; sepals lance-awl-shaped, sharp-pointed, equal (1½–2´´ long), as long as the triangular-prismatic short-pointed 1-celled straw-colored or light brown capsule; anthers a little shorter than the filaments; style almost none; seeds small ({1/5}–{1/4}´´ long), acute at both ends, ribbed-reticulated.—N. Eng. to Ga., Minn. and Tex. May, June. Very variable. Heads often proliferous in autumn.

Var. débilis, Engelm. Stems slender (9–18´ high); heads green, 3–6-flowered, in a loose panicle; flowers smaller (1¼–1½´´ long); capsule longer than the sepals.—Wet sandy soil, N. J. to S. C., west to Ohio, Mo., and Miss. Stem sometimes decumbent and rooting.

Var. robústus, Engelm. Stems stout, tall (2–4° high), bearing numerous 5–8-flowered light-brown heads in a large much-branched panicle; flowers small (1–1{1/5}´´ long); ovoid capsule scarcely longer than the sepals.—Deep swamps, Ill. to Mo. and La.

[+][+][+] Heads few, crowded, of numerous flowers.

[++] Stamens 3; stem rigid from a thick white horizontal rootstock.

23. J. brachycárpus, Engelm. Stem erect (1–2½° high), bearing about 2 leaves and 2–10 densely flowered spherical heads (4–5´´ wide) in a slightly spreading crowded panicle much exceeding the involucral leaf; flowers pale green (2´´ long); sepals lance-linear, awl-pointed, the 3 outer much longer than the inner, and the ovoid pointed 1-celled capsule rather shorter; anthers much shorter than the filaments; style very short; seeds ({1/5}´´ long) abruptly apiculate.—Moist places in open woods and prairies, Ohio and Mich. to Mo., Miss., and Tex.

24. J. scirpoìdes, Lam. Stem erect (1–3° high), rather slender, bearing about 2 terete leaves with wide and open sheaths, and a panicle of few or many densely-flowered pale-green spherical heads, much longer than the involucral leaf, its branches erect and often elongated; heads (3–4´´ wide) 15–40-flowered; flowers 1¼–1½´´ long; sepals rigid, awl-shaped and (especially the outer) bristly pointed, at length pungent, as long as the stamens and nearly equalling the oblong-triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers very small; style elongated or very short, seeds ovoid, abruptly pointed at each end (¼´´ long).—Wet sandy soil, Mass. to N. J. and S. C., west to Ind., Mo., and Tex.

Var. echinàtus, Engelm. Stouter; leaves terete; branches of the compact panicle short; heads larger (5–6´´ wide), 40–80-flowered; flowers 1¾–2´´ long); sepals narrower and more sharply pointed, the outer a little longer than the inner; stamens shorter and anthers longer than in the preceding, and seeds rather smaller and more slender.—Md. to Fla.

Var. polycéphalus, Engelm. Much stouter; leaves laterally flattened (3–6´´ wide); panicle spreading, branched, bearing many distant heads as large as in the last; flowers 2–2½´´ long; the 3 outer sepals the longer; anthers about as long as the filaments; seeds larger ({1/3}´´ long).—S. Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.

[++][++] Stamens 6.

25. J. nodòsus, L. Stem erect (6–15' or 2° high), slender from a creeping thread-like and tuber-bearing rootstock, mostly with 2 or 3 slender leaves; heads few or several, rarely single, 8–20-flowered (3½–4´´ wide), overtopped by the involucral leaf; flowers brown (1½–2´´ long); sepals lance-linear, awl-pointed (the 3 outer mostly a little shorter), nearly as long as the slender triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers oblong, shorter than the filaments; style very short; seeds (about ¼´´ long) obovate, abruptly mucronate.—Swamps and gravelly banks, N. J. and Penn. to N. Ind. and Iowa, and northward.—July, Aug.—Var. MEGACÉPHALUS, Torr. Stem stout (1–3° high), with thick leaves; heads few and large (6–8´´ wide), 30–80-flowered; flowers pale green (2¼–2¾´´ long); outer sepals longest; anthers linear, shorter than the filaments.—Western N. Y. to Minn. and Mo., and westward.

[*][*] Seeds caudate.

[+] Stamens 3.

26. J. Canadénsis, J. Gay. Tufted stems erect, terete, smooth, bearing 2–3 leaves; heads few- or many-flowered, paniculate; sepals lanceolate, the 3 outer shorter than the inner, not much longer than the stamens, equal to or shorter than the triangular-prismatic almost 1-celled usually short-pointed capsule; style mostly short; seeds more or less distinctly tail pointed, delicately many ribbed.—Common almost everywhere. Aug., Sept. Easily distinguished by its late flowering from the similar n. 22. Very variable.

Var. longicaudàtus, Engelm. Stem stout and rigid (1½–3° high), bearing in a decompound somewhat spreading panicle the numerous 5–50-flowered heads; flowers greenish or light brown (1½–2´´ long); sepals awl-pointed, mostly shorter than the abruptly short-pointed capsule; seeds slender ({2/3}–1´´ long), conspicuously tail-pointed.—Mass. to S. C., west to Minn. and La. The most common form.

Var. subcaudàtus, Engelm. Stem slender, often decumbent (1–2° high), bearing in simpler spreading panicles fewer 8–20-flowered heads; flowers greenish, as large as in the last; sepals awl-shaped, but not so rigid; capsule mostly tapering; seeds large (½–{2/3}´´ long), with short white membranous appendages, not reticulated.—Conn. to Penn. and Ga.

Var. brachycéphalus, Engelm. Stem slender (1½–2½° high), bearing numerous small 3–5-flowered heads in a large spreading panicle; flowers greenish or light brown (1¼–1½´´ long); sepals mostly obtuse, shorter than the brown abruptly short-pointed capsule; style longer than in other forms; seeds smaller (¼–{1/3}´´ long), slender, with rather short appendages.—Penn. and western N. Y., to Wisc. and Ill.

Var. coarctàtus, Engelm. Stem slender, shorter (9–18´ high), bearing fewer deep-brown 3–5-flowered heads in a somewhat erect contracted panicle; flowers as large as in the last; sepals acute, or rarely obtusish, much shorter than the prismatic abruptly pointed deep-brown capsule; seeds as in the last.—N. Eng. to N. J., N. Minn., and westward.

[+][+] Stamens 6.

27. J. ásper, Engelm. Stems tufted, erect (2–3° high), terete, stout, rigid, and with the rigid leaves rough; panicle with rigid slightly spreading branches, bearing scattered few- (2–6-) flowered heads; flowers greenish with brown (2½´´ long); sepals ovate-lanceolate, awl-pointed, rigid and strongly nerved, the outer much shorter than the inner, these a little shorter than the triangular-ovoid beaked incompletely 3-celled brown capsule, ovary tapering into a conspicuous style; seeds large, oblong, with white or often reddish appendages (1¼´´ long).—Sphagnous swamps, N. J. Aug.

2. LÙZULA, DC. Wood-Rush.

Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded, one seed to each parietal placenta.—Perennials, often hairy, usually in dry ground, with flat and soft usually hairy leaves, and spiked-crowded or umbelled flowers. (From Gramen Luzulæ, or Luxulæ, dim. of lux, light,—a name given to one of the species from its shining with dew.)

[*] Pedicels 1-flowered, in a loose compound cyme or umbel.

1. L. vernàlis, DC. Plant 6–9´ high; leaves lance-linear, hairy; umbel mostly simple; sepals pointed, shorter than the obtuse capsule; seeds with a curved appendage, (L. pilosa, Willd.)—Woods and banks, Newf. to the mountains of N. C., west to Minn. (Eu.)

2. L. spadícea, DC., var. melanocárpa, Meyer. Nearly smooth (1–3° high); leaves broadly linear; corymb decompound, loose; pedicels drooping; sepals pointed, straw-color, about the length of the minutely pointed and brown capsule; seeds not appendaged. (L. parviflora, var. melanocarpa, Gray.)—Mountains of Maine, Vt., and northern N. Y., to Mich. and N. Minn. (Eu.)

[*][*] Flowers crowded in spikes or close clusters. (Plants 6–12´ high.)

3. L. campéstris, DC. Leaves flat, linear; spikes 4–12, somewhat umbelled, ovoid, straw-color, some of them long-peduncled, others nearly sessile; sepals bristle-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsules; seeds with a conical appendage at base.—Dry fields and woods, common. May. (Eu.)

4. L. arcuàta, Meyer. Leaves channelled, linear; spikes 3–5, on unequal often recurved peduncles, ovoid, chestnut-brown; bracts ciliate-fringed; sepals taper-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsule; seeds not appendaged.—Alpine summits of the White Mts. and far northward. (Eu.)

5. L. spicàta, Desvaux. Leaves channelled, narrowly linear; flowers in sessile clusters, forming a nodding interrupted spiked panicle, brown; sepals bristle-pointed, scarcely as long as the abruptly short-pointed capsule; seeds merely with a roundish projection at base.—With the last, and more common. (Eu.)

Order 122. TYPHÀCEÆ. (Cat-tail Family.)

Marsh or aquatic herbs, with nerved and linear sessile leaves, and monœcious flowers on a spadix or in heads, destitute of proper floral envelopes. Ovary 1–2-celled, with as many persistent styles and (usually elongated) 1-sided stigmas; cells 1-ovuled. Fruit nut-like when ripe, 1-seeded, rarely 2-seeded. Seed suspended, anatropous; embryo straight in copious albumen. Root perennial.

1. Typha. Flowers in a cylindrical compact terminal spike, spathe-like bract deciduous.

2. Sparganium. Flowers in globular heads with foliaceous bracts.

1. TỲPHA, Tourn. (Cat-tail Flag.)

Flowers in a long and very dense cylindrical spike terminating the stem; the upper part consisting of stamens only, inserted directly on the axis, and intermixed with long hairs; the lower part consisting of stipitate 1-celled ovaries, the stipes bearing club-shaped bristles, which form the copious down of the fruit. Nutlets minute, very long-stalked.—Spathes merely deciduous bracts, or none. Root-stocks creeping. Leaves long, sheathing the base of the simple jointless stems, erect, thickish. Flowering in summer. (Τύφη, the old Greek name.)

1. T. latifòlia, L. (Common Cat-tail.) Stout and tall (4–6° high), the flat sheathing leaves 3–10´´ broad, exceeding the stem; the staminate and dark brown pistillate parts of the spike (each 3–6´ long or more) usually contiguous, the latter at length 1´ in diameter; pistillate flowers without bractlets; stigma rhombic-lanceolate; pollen-grains in fours.—In marshes, throughout N. Am. (Eu.)

2. T. angustifòlia, L. Leaves narrower (3–6´´ broad), taller, somewhat convex on the back; pistillate and staminate inflorescence usually separated by a short interval, the light brown spike becoming 5–6´´ in diameter; pollen-grains simple; pistillate flowers with a linear stigma and a hair-like bractlet slightly dilated at the summit.—N. Eng. to N. J., west to Mich. and Mo.; less frequent, and mainly near the coast. (Eu.)

2. SPARGÀNIUM, Tourn. Bur-reed.

Flowers collected in separate dense and spherical leafy-bracted heads, which are scattered along the summit of the stem; the upper sterile, consisting merely of stamens, with minute scales irregularly interposed; the lower or fertile larger, consisting of numerous sessile 1–2-celled pistils, each surrounded by 3–6 scales much like a calyx. Fruit wedge-shaped or club-shaped, more or less corky toward the summit, the hard endocarp perforated at the apex.— Rootstocks creeping and stoloniferous; roots fibrous. Stems simple or branching, sheathed below by the base of the linear leaves. Flowering through the summer. (Name from σπάργανον, a fillet, from the ribbon-like leaves.)

[*] Fruit sessile, broad and truncate, often 2-seeded; stigmas often 2, elongated; scales rigid, nearly equalling the fruit; erect, with branched inflorescence.

1. S. eurycárpum, Engelm. Stems stout, erect (2–4° high); leaves mostly flat and merely keeled; pistil attenuate into a short style bearing 1 or 2 elongated stigmas; fruit-heads 2–6 or more, 1´ wide; fruit many-angled (3½–4´´ long) when mature, with a broad and depressed or retuse summit abruptly tipped in the centre.—Borders of ponds, lakes, and rivers, N. Eng. to Va., west to the Pacific.

[*][*] Fruit comparatively narrow, and mostly somewhat stipitate, 1-celled, longer than the scales.

2. S. símplex, Huds. Stems slender, erect (½–2° high); leaves more or less triquetrous (2½–4´´ wide); fertile heads (1–4) of the usually simple inflorescence often above the axils, sessile or peduncled, 6–8´´ wide in fruit; stigma linear, equalling the rather slender style or shorter; nutlets pale, fusiform or narrowly oblong (about 2´´ long), more or less contracted in the middle.—N. Eng. to N. J., west to Mich., Minn., and northward. (Eu.)

Var. andrócladum, Engelm. Stouter (1½–3° high), with usually broader leaves (4–9´´) and branching inflorescence, the head or peduncles axillary or nearly so; fruiting heads (1–7) often larger (6–12´´ broad), the nutlets 2–3´´ long. (S. androcladum, Morong.)—In bogs or shallow water, common; N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn. and Mo.

Var. angustifòlium, Engelm. Very slender; leaves floating, long and narrow (½–2½´´ wide), flat; inflorescence simple; heads (4–6´´ broad) and nutlets smaller.—Mountain lakes and slow streams, N. Y., N. Eng., and northward; sometimes nearly out of water, dwarf and with shorter erect leaves.

Var. flùitans, Engelm. Floating in deep water, with long slender stems and flat narrow leaves; inflorescence usually short, sparingly branched; style stout with a short oval stigma; fruiting heads 4–6´´ broad; nutlets dark, as large as in the type. (S. androcladum, var. fluctuans, Morong.; not S. fluitans, Fries.)—Ponds, Penn., W. Conn., White Mts., N. Minn., and northward.

3. S. mínimum, Fries. Usually floating, with very slender stems and thin flat narrow leaves; fertile heads 1 or 2, axillary, sessile or peduncled (4–5´´ wide); stigma oval, about as long as the short style, scarcely surpassing the oval or obovate denticulate scales; fruit oblong-obovate (1–2´´ long), pointed, somewhat triangular, the stipe very short or none.—N. Eng. to Penn., N. Ind., Minn., north and westward.—Stems 3–6´ high when growing out of water, much longer when submerged. (Eu.)

Order 123. ARÀCEÆ. (Arum Family.)

Plants with acrid or pungent juice, simple or compound often veiny leaves, and flowers crowded on a spadix, which is usually surrounded by a spathe.—Floral envelopes none, or of 4–6 sepals. Fruit usually a berry. Seeds with fleshy albumen, or none, but filled with the large fleshy embryo. A large family, chiefly tropical. Herbage abounding in slender rhaphides.—The genuine Araceæ have no floral envelopes, and are almost all monœcious or diœcious; but the genera of the second section, with more highly developed flowers, are not to be separated.

[*] Spathe surrounding or subtending the spadix; flowers naked, i.e. without perianth.

1. Arisæma. Flowers monœcious or diœcious, covering only the base of the spadix.

2. Peltandra. Flowers monœcious, covering the spadix; anthers above, ovaries below.

3. Calla. Flowers perfect (at least the lower ones), covering the whole of the short spadix. Spathe open and spreading.

[*][*] Spathe surrounding the spadix in n. 4, none or imperfect in the rest; flowers with a calyx or perianth and perfect, covering the whole spadix.

4. Symplocarpus. Spadix globular, in a fleshy shell-shaped spathe. Stemless.

5. Orontium. Spadix narrow, naked, terminating the terete scape.

6. Acorus. Spadix cylindrical, borne on the side of a leaf-like scape.

1. ARISÆ̀MA, Martius. Indian Turnip. Dragon Arum.

Spathe convolute below and mostly arched above. Flowers monœcious or by abortion diœcious, covering only the base of the spadix, which is elongated and naked above. Floral envelopes none. Sterile flowers above the fertile, each of a cluster of almost sessile 2–4-celled anthers, opening by pores or chinks at the top. Fertile flowers consisting each of a 1-celled ovary, tipped with a depressed stigma, and containing 5 or 6 orthotropous ovules erect from the base of the cell; in fruit a 1–few-seeded scarlet berry. Embryo in the axis of albumen.—Low perennial herbs, with a tuberous rootstock or corm, sending up a simple scape sheathed with the petioles of the simple or compound veiny leaves. (Name from ἀρίς, a kind of arum, and αἷμα, blood, from the spotted leaves of some species.)

1. A. triphýllum, Torr. (Indian Turnip.) Leaves mostly 2, divided into 3 elliptical-ovate pointed leaflets; spadix mostly diœcious, club-shaped, obtuse, much shorter than the spathe, which is flattened and incurved-hooded at the ovate-lanceolate, pointed summit.—Rich woods, N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn. and E. Kan. May.—Corm turnip-shaped, wrinkled, farinaceous, with an intensely acrid juice; spathe with the petioles and sheaths green, or often variegated with dark purple and whitish stripes or spots.

2. A. Dracóntium, Schott. (Green Dragon. Dragon-root.) Leaf usually solitary, pedately divided into 7–11 oblong-lanceolate pointed leaflets; spadix often androgynous, tapering to a long and slender point beyond the oblong and convolute pointed greenish spathe.—Low grounds, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Tex. June.—Corms clustered; petiole 1–2° long, much longer than the peduncle.

2. PELTÁNDRA, Raf. Arrow Arum.

Spathe elongated, convolute throughout or with a dilated blade above. Flowers monœcious, thickly covering the long and tapering spadix throughout (or only its apex naked). Floral envelopes none. Anthers sessile, naked, covering all the upper part of the spadix, each of 5 or 6 cells imbedded in the margin of a thick and shield-shaped connective, opening by a terminal pore. Ovaries at the base of the spadix, each surrounded by 4–5 staminodia connate into a cup, 1-celled, bearing 1–few amphitropous or nearly orthotropous ovules at the base; stigma almost sessile. Fruit a leathery or fleshy berry, 1–3-seeded. Seed obovate, surrounded by a tenacious jelly, the base empty, the upper part filled with a large and fleshy spherical embryo; no albumen.—Stemless herbs, with arrow-shaped leaves and simple scapes from a thick-fibrous or subtuberous root. Fruit in a globose cluster, enclosed by the persistent fleshy base of the spathe. (Name from πέλτη, a target, and ἀνήρ, for stamen, from the shape of the latter.)

1. P. undulàta, Raf. Root of thick tufted fibres; scape 1–1½° high, about equalling the leaves; basal lobes of the leaves rather long and often acutish; spathe convolute throughout, wavy on the margin, mostly green, 4–7´ long; sterile portion of the spadix several times longer than the pistillate; ovules several; fruit green; seeds 1–3. (P. Virginica, Kunth, and most authors.)—Shallow water, New Eng. to Fla., west to Mich. and Ind. June.

2. P. álba, Raf. Rootstock tuberous, covered with thick-fleshy roots and propagating by offshoots; lobes of the leaves mostly short and broad, obtuse; spathe 3–4´ long, the blade broader, acuminate, somewhat expanded, white; sterile part of the spadix scarcely longer than the pistillate; ovules and seeds solitary; berry scarlet, 5–6´´ long. (P. Virginica, Schott. Xanthosoma sagittifolia, Chapm., not Schott. Caladium glaucum, Ell. Arum Virginicum, L., in part?)—Marshes, S. Va.(?) and N. C. to Fla.

3. CÁLLA, L. Water Arum.

Spathe open and spreading, ovate (abruptly pointed, the upper surface white), persistent. Spadix oblong, entirely covered with flowers; the lower perfect and 6-androus; the upper often of stamens only. Floral envelopes none. Filaments slender; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise. Ovary 1-celled, with 5–9 erect anatropous ovules; stigma almost sessile. Berries (red) distinct, few-seeded. Seeds with a conspicuous rhaphe and an embryo nearly the length of the hard albumen.—A low perennial herb, growing in cold bogs, with a long creeping rootstock, bearing heart-shaped long-petioled leaves, and solitary scapes. (An ancient name, of unknown meaning.)

1. C. palústris, L.—Cold bogs, N. Scotia to N. J., west to Mich. and Minn., and northward. June.—Seeds surrounded with jelly. (Eu.)

4. SYMPLOCÁRPUS, Salisb. Skunk Cabbage.

Spathe hooded-shell-form, pointed, very thick and fleshy, decaying in fruit. Spadix globular, short-stalked, entirely and densely covered with perfect flowers, their 1-celled or abortively 2-celled ovaries immersed in the fleshy receptacle. Sepals 4, hooded. Stamens 4, opposite the sepals, with at length rather slender filaments; anthers extrorse, 2-celled, opening lengthwise. Style 4-angled and awl-shaped; stigma small. Ovule solitary, suspended, anatropous. Fruit a globular or oval mass, composed of the enlarged and spongy spadix, enclosing the spherical seeds just beneath the surface, which is roughened with the persistent fleshy sepals and pyramidal styles. Seeds filled by the large globular and fleshy corm-like embryo, which bears one or several plumules at the end next the base of the ovary; albumen none.—Perennial herb, with a strong odor like that of the skunk, and also somewhat alliaceous; a very thick rootstock, bearing a multitude of long and coarse fibrous roots, and a cluster of very large and broad entire veiny leaves, preceded in earliest spring by the nearly sessile spathes, which barely rise out of the ground. (Name from συμπλοκή, connection, and καρπός, fruit, in allusion to the coalescence of the ovaries into a compound fruit.)

1. S. fœ̀tidus, Salisb. Leaves ovate, cordate, becoming 1–2° long, short-petioled; spathe spotted and striped with purple and yellowish-green, ovate, incurved; fruit (in autumn) 2–3´ in diam., in decay shedding the bulblet-like seeds, which are 4–6´´ long.—Bogs and moist grounds, N. Scotia to N. C., west to Minn. and Iowa.

5. ORÓNTIUM, L., Golden-club.

Spathe incomplete and distant, merely a leaf-sheath investing the lower part of the slender scape, and bearing a small and imperfect bract-like blade. Flowers crowded all over the narrow spadix, perfect; the lower with 6 concave sepals and 6 stamens; the upper ones with 4. Filaments flattened; anthers 2-celled, opening obliquely lengthwise. Ovary 1-celled, with an anatropous ovule; stigma sessile, entire. Fruit a green utricle. Seed without albumen. Embryo thick and fleshy, "with a large concealed cavity at the summit, the plumule curved in a groove on the outside." (Torr.)—An aquatic perennial, with a deep rootstock, long-petioled and entire oblong and nerved floating leaves, and the spadix terminating the elongated scape; its rather club-shaped emersed apex as thick as the spadix. (Origin of the name obscure.)

1. O. aquáticum, L.—Ponds, Mass. to Fla. May.

6. ÁCORUS, L. Sweet Flag. Calamus.

Spadix cylindrical, lateral, sessile, emerging from the side of a simple 2-edged scape which resembles the leaves, densely covered with perfect flowers. Sepals 6, concave. Stamens 6; filaments linear; anthers kidney-shaped, 1-celled, opening across. Ovary 2–3-celled, with several pendulous orthotropous ovules in each cell; stigma minute. Fruit at length dry, gelatinous inside, 1–few-seeded. Embryo in the axis of albumen.—Pungent aromatic plants, especially the thick creeping rootstocks (calamus of the shops), which send up 2-edged sword-like leaves, and scapes somewhat like them, bearing the spadix on one edge; the upper and more foliaceous prolongation sometimes considered as a kind of open spathe. (Ἄκορας, the ancient name, of no known meaning.)

1. A. Cálamus, L. Scape leaf-like and prolonged far beyond the (yellowish-green) spadix.—Margins of rivulets, swamps, etc., N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn., Iowa, and E. Kan.

Order 124. LEMNÀCEÆ. (Duckweed Family.)

Minute stemless plants, floating free on the water, destitute of distinct stem and foliage, being merely a frond, producing one or few monœcious flowers from the edge or upper surface, and commonly hanging roots from underneath; ovules rising from the base of the cell. Fruit a 1–7-seeded utricle. Seed large; the apex or radicular extremity of the seed-coat separable as an operculum or lid (as in Cabomba, etc.). Embryo straight, surrounded by fleshy or sometimes very scanty albumen.—The simplest, and some of them the smallest of flowering plants, propagating by the proliferous growth of a new individual from a cleft in the edge or base of the parent frond, remaining connected for some time or separating, also by autumnal fronds in the form of minute bulblets, which sink to the bottom of the water, but rise and vegetate in spring; the flowers (in summer) and fruit scarce, in some species hardly ever seen. Frond more or less cavernous; the upper surface furnished with stomata.—These plants may be regarded as very simplified Araceæ.

1. Spirodela. Frond 7–11-nerved, with several rootlets.

2. Lemna. Frond 1–5-nerved, with a single rootlet.

3. Wolffia. Frond thick, very minute (¼–{2/3}´ broad), without rootlets.

1. SPIRODÈLA, Schleiden.

Anther-cells bilocellate by a vertical partition and longitudinally dehiscent. Ovules 2. Frond 7–11-nerved or more; rootlets several, with axile vascular tissue. Otherwise as Lemna. (From σπεῖρα, a cord, and δῆλος, evident.)

1. S. polyrrhìza, Schleid. Fronds round-obovate (2–4´´ long), thick, purple and rather convex beneath, dark green above, palmately (mostly 7-) nerved. (Lemna polyrrhiza, L.)—Very common in ponds and pools, throughout N. Am., but very rarely found in flower or fruit. (Eu.)

2. LÉMNA, L. Duckweed. Duck's-meat.

Flowers produced from a cleft in the margin of the frond, usually three together surrounded by a spathe; two of them staminate, consisting of a stamen only; the other pistillate, of a simple pistil; the whole therefore imitating a single diandrous flower. Ster. Fl. Filament slender; anther 2-celled, didymous; the cells dehiscent transversely; pollen-grains large, spherical, muricate. Fert. Fl. Ovary 1-celled; style and truncate or funnel-shaped stigma simple. Ovules and seeds 1–7.—Fronds 1–5-nerved, producing a single rootlet beneath (which is destitute of vascular tissue), proliferous from a cleft in the margin toward the base, and at length stipitate; the tissue abounding with bundles of rhaphides. (An old Greek name of uncertain meaning.)

[*] Ovule solitary, orthotropous or nearly so; frond 1–3-nerved, thin.

[+] Fronds oblong, stalked at base, remaining connected.

1. L. trisúlca, L. Fronds oblong to oblong-lanceolate (6–9´´ long), attenuate at base into a slender stalk, denticulate at the tip, very obscurely 3-nerved, often without rootlets, usually several series of offshoots remaining connected; spathe sac-like; seeds ovate, amphitropous, with small round operculum.—Ponds and springy places, N. Scotia to N. J., west to the Pacific. (Eu.)

[+][+] Fronds oblong to elliptical or round-ovate, sessile, soon separating.

2. L. Valdiviàna, Philippi. Fronds elliptic-oblong, small (about 1´´ long), rather thick, usually somewhat falcate, obscurely 1-nerved; spathe broad-reniform; utricle long-ovate, pointed by the long style; seed orthotropous, oblong, with a prominent acute operculum. (L. Torreyi, Austin.)—Pools, N. J. and southward, westward across the continent. (S. Am.)

3. L. perpusílla, Torr. Fronds obovate or roundish-obovate, oblique (1–1½´´ long), obscurely 3-nerved; utricle ovate; style rather long; seed orthotropous, ovate or oval, obtuse, with scarcely apiculate operculum.—N. Y. and N. J., west to Mich. and Wisc.—Var. trinérvis, Austin, has larger, distinctly 3-nerved fronds, and an unequally cordate seed.

4. L. mìnor, L. Fronds round- to elliptic-obovate (1–2½´´ in diameter), rather thick, very obscurely 3-nerved; spathe sac-like; utricle short-urn-shaped, tipped with a short style; seed oblong-obovate, amphitropous, with prominent rounded operculum.—Stagnant waters, throughout N. Am. (Eu.)

[*][*] Ovules 2–7, anatropous; fronds very thick and spongy, flat above, very obscurely 5-nerved (1½–3´´ long).

5. L. gíbba, L. Fronds obovate-elliptic to nearly orbicular, almost hemispherical, soon separating; bract sac-like.—Mo. (?) to Ariz. and Calif.

3. WÓLFFIA, Horkel.

Flowers central, bursting through the upper surface of the globular (or in some foreign ones flat) and loosely cellular frond, only 2; one consisting of a single stamen with a 1-celled 2-valved anther; the other of a globular ovary, tipped with a very short style and a depressed stigma. Ovule orthotropous, rather oblique in the cell. Utricle spherical. Albumen thin.—Fronds rootless, proliferous from a cleft or funnel-shaped opening at the base, the offspring soon detached; no rhaphides.—The simplest and smallest of flowering plants, from ¼–{2/3}´´ long (an African and Cuban species much larger), floating as little grains on the water. (Named for John Fred. Wolff, who wrote on Lemna in 1801.)

1. W. Columbiàna, Karsten. Globose or globular, {1/3}–{2/3}´´ long, very loosely cellular, light green all over, not dotted; stomata 1–6; the opening at the base circular and with a thin border.—Floating rather beneath the surface of stagnant waters, Conn. to N. J., west to Minn. and La.

2. W. Brasiliénsis, Weddell. Oblong, smaller and more densely cellular, flattish and deep green with many stomata above, tumid and pale below, brown-dotted all over, anterior edge sharp, opening at base circular.—Growing with the last, but floating on the surface.

Order 125. ALISMÀCEÆ. (Water-Plantain Family.)

Marsh herbs, with scape-like stems, sheathing leaves, and perfect or monœcious or diœcious flowers; perianth of 3 herbaceous persistent sepals and as many (often conspicuous) white deciduous petals, which are imbricate or involute in bud; stamens 6 or more, included; ovaries numerous, distinct, 1-celled and mostly 1-ovuled, becoming achenes in fruit (in our genera); seeds erect; campylotropous.—Roots fibrous; leaves radical, petiolate and strongly nerved with transverse veinlets, the earlier sometimes without blade; flowers long-pedicellate, mostly verticillate, in a loose raceme or panicle, with lanceolate scarious bracts slightly connate at base.

1. Alisma. Flowers perfect, usually 6-androus. Carpels flattened, in one whorl.

2. Sagittaria. Flowers mostly unisexual. Stamens rarely few. Carpels flattened, in dense heads, winged.

3. Echinodorus. Flowers perfect. Stamens 6 or more. Carpels capitate, turgid and ribbed, often beaked.

1. ALÍSMA, L. Water-Plantain.

Flowers perfect. Petals involute in the bud. Stamens definite, mostly 6. Ovaries many in a simple circle on a flattened receptacle, forming flattened coriaceous achenes, which are dilated and 2–3-keeled on the back.—Roots fibrous. Leaves all from the root, several-ribbed, with connected veinlets. Scape with whorled panicled branches. Flowers small, white or pale rose-color. (The Greek name; of uncertain derivation.)

1. A. Plantàgo, L. Perennial by a stout proliferous corm; leaves long-petioled, ovate, oblong, or lanceolate or even linear, acute, mostly rounded or heart shaped at base, 3–9-nerved; panicle loose, compound, many-flowered (1–2° long); carpels obliquely obovate, forming an obtusely triangular whorl in fruit.—Shallow water and ditches, across the continent. Very variable as to foliage, but the leaves usually more broadly cordate-ovate than in Old World forms (var. Americànum, R. & S.); when growing under water thinner and narrowly lanceolate. (Eu., etc.)

2. SAGITTÀRIA, L. Arrow-head.

Flowers monœcious, or often diœcious in n. 1 and 4, and polygamous in n. 7. Petals imbricated in the bud. Stamens indefinite, rarely few. Ovaries many, crowded in a spherical or somewhat triangular depressed head on a globular receptacle, in fruit forming flat membranaceous winged achenes.—Marsh or aquatic, mostly perennial, stoloniferous herbs, with milky juice and fibrous roots; the scapes sheathed at base by the bases of the long cellular petioles, of which the primary ones, and sometimes all, are flattened, nerved, and destitute of any proper blade (i.e. are phyllodia); when present the blade is arrow-shaped or lanceolate, nerved and with cross-veinlets as in Alisma. Flowers produced all summer, whorled in threes, with membranous bracts; the sterile above. (Name from sagitta, an arrow, from the prevalent form of the leaves.)

§ 1. SAGITTARIA proper. Flowers monœcious, with the lower whorls pistillate, or diœcious; stamens few or numerous, covering the receptacle; sepals spreading or reflexed in fruit.

[*] Filaments numerous, narrow, as long as or longer than the linear-oblong anthers; bracts 3, distinct; fruiting heads larger.

1. S. variábilis, Engelm. Scape (¼–4° high) angled, with one or more of the lower whorls fertile; leaves very various, almost always sagittate; bracts mostly pointed; pedicels of the fertile flowers at least half the length of the sterile ones; petals wholly white; filaments glabrous, nearly twice the length of the anthers; achenes obovate (about 1´´ long), winged on both margins, with a long curved or usually horizontal beak ¼–{1/3} its length. (S. sagittæfolia, L., var. variabilis, M. Micheli.)—In water or wet places, very common; exceedingly variable in size and foliage, ordinarily with narrow halberd-shaped or sagittate leaves,—sometimes diœcious, with large, broad and obtuse leaves (var. obtùsa), or monœcious, with large, broad and acute leaves (var. latifòlia), or the narrow leaves with long and linear diverging lobes (var. angustifòlia), or with some leaves lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, others more or less sagittate (var. diversifòlia), etc. Root propagating by stolons tuberiferous at the extremity.—The European species has the fertile pedicels only {1/3} or ¼ the length of the sterile; claws of the petals purple-tinged; filaments not longer than the anthers; and achenes almost orbicular, very broadly winged and with a short straight beak.

Var. pubéscens, Engelm. Upper part of petiole and scape and especially the orbicular-ovate obtuse bracts and sepals pubescent or woolly; beak of fruit horizontal.—N. J. and Penn. to Ga.

Var. (?) grácilis, Engelm. Lobes of the sagittate leaves very narrowly linear (½–2´´ wide); achene narrowly cuneate-obovate (2´´ long), the beak long, stout, and strongly recurved, the sides usually strongly 1–3-crested. (S. cristata, Engelm.?)—Mass. to western N. Y.; Iowa.

2. S. lancifòlia, L. Scape 2–5° high, with several of the lower whorls fertile; leaves lanceolate or lance-oblong, rarely linear, all with a tapering base, thick or coriaceous (6–18´ long and on a long and stout petiole, never sagittate), the nerves mostly arising from the very thick midrib; bracts ovate, acute or acuminate; pedicels slender, the fertile scarcely shorter than the sterile ones; filaments pubescent; achenes falcate, winged on the back, pointed with an incurved beak.—Swamps, Md. to Ky., Mo., and southward. (W. Ind.)

[*][*] Filaments very short, with enlarged mostly glandular base; anthers ovate or short-oblong; fruiting heads small; bracts more or less connate; leaves very rarely sagittate.

3. S. heterophýlla, Pursh. Scape weak (3´–2° high), at length procumbent; leaves lanceolate or lance-oval, entire, or with one or two narrow basal sagittate appendages; bracts roundish, obtuse; flowers of the lowest whorl fertile and almost sessile; the sterile on long pedicels; filaments glandular-pubescent; achenes narrowly obovate with a long erect beak.—N. Eng to Fla., west to Minn. and Mo. Varies as to foliage, the leaves being broad (var. ellíptica, Engelm.), or rigid and narrowly lanceolate with stout petioles (var. rígida, Engelm.), or nearly linear (var. angustifòlia, Engelm.)

4. S. gramínea, Michx. Scape 3´–2° high; phyllodia flat, mostly broadly linear, acuminate; leaves ovate-lanceolate to linear, on long slender petioles, sometimes reduced to the petiole merely; bracts rather obtuse; whorls of flowers often few, all staminate or the lower fertile; pedicels slender, spreading, nearly equal; filaments 15–20, glandular-pubescent; achene small (½´´ long), narrowly obovate, almost beakless, winged on the back, flat and scarcely costate on the sides.—N. Eng. to Minn., south to the Gulf; very variable.

5. S. tères, Watson. Phyllodia terete, very acutely attenuate upward, 3–12´ long, very rarely bearing a narrow blade; scape ½–1½° high; bracts connate at base; pedicels in 1–3 whorls, all very slender and spreading, 1 or 2 fruiting, ½–1´ long; filaments 12, dilated, pubescent; achene obovate, 1´´ long, with an erect beak, the margins and sides crenately several-crested.—In shallow water, S. New Eng. to N. J. (Hyannis, Mass., Deane; Wading River, L. I., Miller; barrens of N. J., Torrey.) Phyllodia usually very strongly nodose. (Addendum)—Sagittaria teres has been collected also at Brewster, Mass. (Farlow).

6. S. nàtans, Michx., var. loràta, Chapm. Usually dwarf; leaves linear, strap-shaped, obtuse or acutish, 1–6´ long, equalling or shorter than the scape, very rarely with a narrow blade; pedicels in 1–3 whorls, only 1 or 2 fruiting, stouter and recurved; bracts connate or spathe-like; filaments 6–8, glabrous; achene obovate, short-beaked, 1´´ long, the margins and sides crenately crested. (S. pusilla, Pursh.)—In mud or shallow water, near the coast; N. Y. to Fla.

Var. (?) gracíllima, Watson. Scape and the almost or wholly bladeless leaves very slender and greatly elongated (2–4° long, 1´´ wide); pedicels all elongated, in usually distant whorls, the lower pistillate, slender and spreading; fruit unknown. (S. natans, Engelm. in Torr. Bull. ix. 4.)—In deep water of streams in E. Mass. (Hitchings, Boott, C. E. Faxon, etc.) Wholly submerged, only 1 or 2 flowers appearing at a time, floating on the surface. The fruit, maturing under water, has not yet been collected.

§ 2. LOPHIOCÁRPUS. Fertile flowers perfect; stamens 9–15, at the base of the receptacle; sepals erect and embracing the fruit.

7. S. calycìna, Engelm. Scape weak (3–9´ high), at length mostly procumbent; usually only the lowest whorl fertile, with pedicels as long as those of the sterile flowers, recurved in fruit; bracts orbicular, obtuse or rarely pointed; filaments slightly rough, as long as the anthers; achenes obovate with a short horizontal style; leaves broadly halberd-shaped, obtuse or acutish, with wide spreading lobes, often wider than long, or lanceolate or sometimes reduced to linear phyllodia.—Maine to Del., west to Wisc., Mo., and Tex. Quite variable, several forms being enumerated, as var. spongiòsa, with spongy texture and bladeless submerged leaves, eastward; and westward, var. flùitans, with lance-linear floating leaves.

3. ECHINÓDORUS, Richard.

Flowers perfect. Petals imbricated in the bud. Stamens 6–21 or more. Ovaries several or many, imbricated in a head, forming thick and ribbed achenes in fruit, often beaked with a projecting persistent style.—Mostly annuals, with the habit of Sagittaria, the naked stems sparingly branched or simple, and the flowers on rather short pedicels, in whorls of 3–6 or more. Fl. summer and autumn. (Name from ἐχινώδης, prickly, or from ἐχῖνος, and δορός a leathern bottle, applied to the ovary, which is in most species armed with the persistent style, so as to form a sort of prickly head of fruit.)

1. E. párvulus, Engelm. Scapes 1–3´ high; shoots often creeping and proliferous; leaves lanceolate or spatulate, acute (½–1½´ long, including the petiole); umbel single, 2–8-flowered; pedicels reflexed in fruit; flower 3´´ broad; stamens 9; styles much shorter than the ovary; achenes beakless, obtusely few-ribbed.—In mud, Mass. to Mich. and E. Minn., south to Fla. and Tex. (S. Am.)

2. E. rostràtus, Engelm. Scape erect, 3´–2° high, longer than the leaves; leaves broadly ovate, cordate or truncate at base, obtuse (the blade 1–3´ long); umbel proliferous, in a branched panicle; flower 5´´ broad; stamens 12; styles longer than the ovary; achenes beaked, acutely many-ribbed.—Swamps and ditches, Ill. to Fla., Mo., and Tex.—A low form (var. lanceolàtus, Engelm.) has the leaves lanceolate with an acute base. Ill., Mo.

3. E. radìcans, Engelm. Stems or scape prostrate, creeping (2–4° long), proliferous, bearing many whorls of flowers; leaves somewhat truncately broadly heart-shaped, obtuse (2–8´ broad), long-petioled; flowers 6–9´´ broad; stamens about 21; styles shorter than the ovary; achenes short-beaked, the keeled back denticulate.—Swamps, Ill. to N. C. and Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.

Order 126. NAIADÀCEÆ. (Pondweed Family.)

Marsh or mostly immersed aquatic herbs, with stems jointed and leafy or (in Triglochin) naked and scape-like, leaves sheathing at base or stipulate, and flowers perfect or unisexual, often spathaceous, with perianth of 4 or 6 herbaceous distinct valvate segments, or membranous and tubular or cup-shaped, or none. Stamens 1, 2, 4 or 6, with extrorse anthers. Ovaries 1–6, distinct or more or less coherent, 1-celled, usually 1-ovuled, in fruit follicular or capsular or an indehiscent berry or utricle.

Suborder I. Juncagineæ. Marsh plants, with terete bladeless leaves; flowers perfect, spicate or racemose, with herbaceous 6- (rarely 3-) lobed perianth; carpels 3 or 6, more or less united, separating at maturity. Seeds anatropous; embryo straight.

1. Triglochin. Ovaries 3–6, united until maturity. Leaves radical. Flowers bractless, in a spike-like raceme terminating a jointless scape.

2. Scheuchzeria. Ovaries 3, nearly distinct, at length divergent. Flowers bracteate in a loose raceme upon a leafy stem.

Suborder II. Naiadeæ. Immersed aquatics, with flat leaves; ovaries solitary or distinct, 1-ovuled.

[+] Flowers perfect, spiked or clustered; anthers 4 or 2, sessile; leaves alternate.

3. Potamogeton. Spike peduncled. Sepals 4, herbaceous. Anthers 4. Ovaries 4, sessile.

4. Ruppia. Flowers on an enclosed spadix, at length long-exserted, without perianth. Anther-cells 4, distinct. Ovaries 4, becoming stipitate.

[+][+] Flowers monœcious or diœcious, axillary, naked, monandrous; leaves opposite (alternate in n. 6).

5. Zannichellia. Monœcious. Pistils (2–5) from a cup-shaped involucre or sheath.

6. Zostera. Pistils and stamens alternate in 2 vertical rows on the inner side of a leaf-like enclosed spadix. Stigmas 2, linear. Stem creeping.

7. Naias. Diœcious; pistil solitary, naked. Stamen enclosed in a membranous spathe. Stems floating, with opposite or ternate leaves.

1. TRIGLÒCHIN, L. Arrow-grass.

Sepals and petals nearly alike (greenish), ovate, concave, deciduous. Stamens 3–6; anthers oval, on very short filaments. Pistils united into a 3–6-celled compound ovary; stigmas sessile; ovules solitary. Capsule splitting when ripe into 3–6 carpels, which separate from a persistent central axis.—Perennials, with rush-like, fleshy leaves, below sheathing the base of the wand-like naked and jointless scape. Flowers small, in a spiked raceme, bractless. (Name composed of τρεῖς, three, and γλωχίν, point, from the three points of the ripe fruit in n. 1 when dehiscent.)

[*] Fruit of 3 carpels.

1. T. palústris, L. Scape (6–18´ high) and leaves slender; sepals and stamens 6; fruit linear-club-shaped; carpels when ripe separating from below upward, leaving a triangular axis, awl-pointed at base.—Marshes, western N. Y. to Ill., Minn., and westward. Aug. (Eu., Asia, etc.)

2. T. striàta, Ruiz & Pav. Scape (6–12´ high) and leaves slender; flowers very small; sepals and stamens 3; fruit globose-triangular, or when dry 3-lobed. (T. triandra, Michx.)—Sea-shore, Md. to Fla. (S. Am., etc.)

[*][*] Fruit of 6 carpels (rarely 5).

3. T. marítima, L. Scape (1–3° high) and leaves thickish, fleshy; fruit ovate or oblong, acutish; carpels rounded at base and slightly grooved on the back, the edges acute.—Salt-marshes along the coast, Lab. to N. J., and in saline places in the interior across the continent. (Eu., Asia, etc.)

2. SCHEUCHZÈRIA, L.

Sepals and petals oblong, spreading, nearly alike (greenish-yellow), but the latter narrower, persistent. Stamens 6; anthers linear. Ovaries 3, globular, slightly united at base, 2–3 ovuled, bearing flat sessile stigmas, in fruit forming 3 diverging and inflated 1–2 seeded pods, opening along the inside.—A low bog-herb, with a creeping jointed rootstock, tapering into the ascending simple stem, which is zigzag, partly sheathed by the bases of the grass-like conduplicate leaves, and terminated by a loose raceme of a few flowers, with sheathing bracts; leaves tubular at the apex. (Named for John and John Jacob Scheuchzer, distinguished Swiss botanists early in the 18th century.)

1. S. palústris, L.—Peat-bogs, N. Brunswick to N. J., westward across the continent. June. (Eu., Asia.)

3. POTAMOGÈTON, Tourn. Pondweed.

Flowers perfect. Sepals 4, rounded, valvate in the bud. Stamens 4, opposite the sepals; anthers nearly sessile, 2-celled. Ovaries 4 (rarely only one), with an ascending campylotropous ovule; stigma sessile or on a short style. Fruit drupe-like when fresh, more or less compressed; endocarp (nutlet) crustaceous. Embryo hooked, annular, or cochleate, the radicular end pointing downward.—Herbs of fresh, or one in brackish, ponds and streams, with jointed mostly rooting stems, and 2-ranked leaves, which are usually alternate or imperfectly opposite; the submersed ones pellucid, the floating ones often dilated and of a firmer texture. Stipules membranous, more or less united and sheathing. Spikes sheathed by the stipules in the bud, mostly raised on a peduncle to the surface of the water. (An ancient name, composed of ποταμός, a river, and γείτων, a neighbor, from the place of growth.)—By fruit, the full-grown fresh or macerated fruit is intended; by nutlet, that with the fleshy outer portion or epicarp removed. All except n. 19 flower in summer; the month mentioned indicates the time of ripening of the fruit.

§ 1. Leaves of two sorts; floating ones more or less coriaceous, with a dilated petioled blade, different in form from the thinner submersed ones.

[*] Submersed leaves reduced to narrowly grass-like or filiform sessile phyllodia.

[+] Stems rather stout; stipules free; spikes all emersed, cylindrical and densely fruited; fruits fleshy and turgid, obliquely obovate.

1. P. nàtans, L. Stem simple or sparingly branched; floating leaves all long-petioled, elliptical or ovate, somewhat cordate at base, obtuse but with a blunt point, 21–29-nerved; upper submersed leaves lanceolate, early perishing, the lower (later in the season) very slender (3–7´ long, barely 1´´ wide); upper stipules very long, acute; peduncle about the thickness of the stem; spikes 1–2´ long; sides of the turgid nutlet with a small deep impression in the middle; embryo coiled into an incomplete elliptical ring.—Ponds and ditches, N. Scotia to Va., westward across the continent. In deeper or flowing water the plant becomes more slender and often wholly submersed (var. prolíxus, Koch).—Aug., Sept. (Eu., Asia.)

2. P. Oakesiànus, Robbins. Stem more slender, much branched; floating leaves smaller (1–1½´ long), ovate- or oblong-elliptical, obtuse, fewer-(17–23-) nerved; lowest submersed ones almost capillary (only ¼–½´´ wide), continuing through the flowering season; spikes shorter (¾–1´ long), on peduncles much thicker than the stem; fruit smaller and more acute; sides of the turgid nutlet not at all impressed; curvature of the embryo nearly circular, its apex directed to a point above its base.—Ponds, and especially pools and stagnant ditches, Mass. to N. J.; also Anticosti. Aug.

3. P. Pennsylvánicus, Cham. Stems compressed, often simple from the creeping rootstocks; floating leaves chiefly opposite (1–3½´ long), 11–17-nerved, oblong, tapering into a short petiole, the lower gradually narrowing and passing into the submersed ones, which are very numerous and approximate, 2-ranked, linear (2–5´ long, and 1–2½´´ wide), 5–7-nerved, the lateral nerves slender and nearly marginal, the space within the inner nerves coarsely cellular-reticulated; stipules very obtuse; spikes numerous, about the length of the thickened peduncle; fruit round-obovate, flattish, 3-keeled when dry; nutlet distinctly impressed on the sides; curvature of the embryo transversely oval. (P. Claytonii, Tuckerm.)—Still or flowing water, N. Brunswick to S. C., west to N. Ind. and Minn. July, Aug.

[+][+] Like the preceding section, but all the parts small, slender and delicate, only the fertile plants producing floating leaves; spikes very small and few-flowered; propagated by autumn buds.

4. P. Vasèyi, Robbins. Very delicate; stem almost capillary; floating leaves obovate (3–5´´ long) and about the length of their filiform petioles, with 5 nerves deeply impressed beneath, cross-veins distinct; submersed leaves filiform-linear, very attenuate (1–2´ long, {1/8}–¼´´ wide) and acute; stipules not adnate, scarious, long, acute; spikes all emersed, few, interrupted-oblong, 3–5-flowered, on a thickish peduncle; fruit oblique, round-obovate ({2/3}´´ long), compressed, slightly sharp-margined, tipped with a distinct recurved style, the sides impressed and face acute; upper portion of the embryo circularly incurved, its apex transverse to the fruit.—Canada and N. Eng.; also Ill. The fruiting form, with floating leaves, rare; the submerged form apparently much more abundant.

5. P. lateràlis, Morong. Stem filiform, branching; floating leaves elliptical (4–6´´ long by 2´´ wide), with 5–7 nerves deeply impressed beneath, tapering at base into a somewhat dilated petiole shorter than the blade; submersed leaves linear, acute (1–3´ long by ¼–½´´ wide), 1–3-nerved, the mid-nerve with fine veins or cellular reticulations on each side, bi-glandular at base; stipules short; peduncles with a very peculiar lateral appearance, widely spreading at maturity, sometimes even recurved, often thicker than the stem; spikes often interrupted (2–4-flowered); fruit obliquely obovate (hardly 1´´ long), the back much curved, with two fine grooves upon it; embryo oval in its curve, the apex nearly touching the base.—Mass. and Mich.; rare. Undeveloped specimens resemble P. pusillus.

[+][+][+] Stems slender or filiform, much branched; floating leaves sometimes wanting; stipules adnate to the base of the leaf; spikes of two kinds, one emersed, cylindrical and many-flowered, on a club-shaped peduncle, the other submersed, globular and few-flowered; fruit flat, cochleate, with thin or scarcely any flesh and a thin nutlet; embryo spiral.

6. P. Spiríllus, Tuckerm. Floating leaves oval to lance-oblong and lanceolate (the largest 10´´ long, 4´´ wide), usually obtuse, about equalling the rather dilated petioles, with 5–many nerves beneath deeply impressed; upper submersed leaves either with or without a lance-oblong or broad-linear proper blade; the numerous lower ones narrow-linear, tapering toward the obtuse apex (¾–1½´ long, ¼–{2/3}´´ wide); stipules early lacerate; submersed flowers usually solitary on very short erect peduncles; fruit with the back either winged and with 4–5 distinct teeth or wingless and entire; embryo coiled 1¾ turns.—Rivers, and even far up small streams, N. Eng. to Va., west to Mich. and Mo. June–Aug.—Stem less slender than in the next.

7. P. hýbridus, Michx. Floating leaves oval to lance-oblong (the largest 10´´ long, 6´´ wide), often acute, longer than the filiform petioles, with about 5–7 nerves beneath deeply impressed; submersed leaves very numerous, almost setaceous (1–3´ long, very rarely ½´´ wide); stipules obtuse; emersed spikes 4–7´´ long; submersed spikes 1–4-flowered, their peduncles (of their own length) frequently recurved; fruit minute, about 8-toothed on the margin; embryo coiled 1½ turns.—Shallow stagnant waters, N. Brunswick to Fla., west to Mich., Mo., and N. Mex. June–Aug.

[*][*] Submersed leaves lanceolate, rarely oval or linear, membranaceous; spikes dense, many-flowered, on stout peduncles.

8. P. ruféscens, Schrad. Stem simple; floating leaves (often wanting) 2–5´ long, rather thin, wedge-oblanceolate, narrowed into a short petiole, 11–17-nerved; submersed leaves almost sessile, lanceolate and lance-oblong, smooth on the margin, fewer-nerved; stipules broad, hyaline, obtuse, upper ones acuminate; spike 1–2´ long, often somewhat compound; fruit obovate, lenticular, pitted when immature, with an acute margin and pointed with the rather long style; embryo incompletely annular.—In streams or ponds, N. Brunswick to N. J., west to Minn. and Tex. Aug., Sept. (Eu.)

9. P. flùitans, Roth. Stem often branching below; floating leaves thinnish, lance-oblong or long-elliptical, often acute, long-petioled, 17–23-nerved; submersed leaves very long (3–12´, by 2–12´´ wide), lanceolate and lance-linear, 7–15-nerved, coarsely reticulated; peduncles somewhat thickened upward; fruit obliquely obovate, obscurely 3-keeled when fresh, and distinctly so when dry, the middle one winged above and sometimes with 3–5 shallow indentations; the rounded slightly curved face surmounted by the short style; nutlet with the sides scarcely impressed; upper part of the embryo circularly in-curved. (P. lonchites, Tuckerm.)—In streams or rarely in ponds, N. Brunswick to N. J., west to Minn. and Iowa. Aug., Sept. (Eu.)

10. P. púlcher, Tuckerm. Stem simple, black-spotted; leaves of three kinds; floating ones becoming very large (4½ by 3½´), roundish-ovate and cordate or ovate-oblong, 25–37-nerved, all alternate; upper submersed ones (3–5) usually lanceolate, acute at base and very long-acuminate, 10–15-nerved, very thin, cellular each side of the midrib, undulate, short-petioled; lowest (2–4 near the base of the stem) thicker, plane, oval or oblong with a rounded base, or spatulate-oblong, on longer petioles; stipules rather short and obtuse; peduncles thicker than the stem; fruit with a rounded back and angular face, pointed, distinctly 3-keeled when fresh, sharply so when dry; nutlet with two deep dorsal furrows, and a sinus below the angle in front; sides flat; embryo circularly much incurved above.—Ponds, Vt. to Ga. and Mo. July, Aug.

11. P. amplifòlius, Tuckerm. Stems simple, of very variable length; floating leaves (sometimes wanting) large, oblong or lance-ovate, sometimes slightly cordate at base, abruptly acutish, 30–50-nerved, on rather long petioles; submersed leaves often very large (reaching 7´ by 2´), lanceolate or oval, acute at each end, usually much recurved, undulate, mostly on short petioles; stipules very long and tapering to a point, soon becoming loose; peduncles thickened upward, in deep water much elongated; fruit very large (over 2´´ long), rather obliquely obovate, 3-keeled, with a broad stout beak; nutlet slightly impressed on the sides; upper part of the embryo curved into a ring.—Ponds and rivers, N. Eng. to N. J., west to Minn. and Kan. Aug., Sept.

12. P. Illinoénsis, Morong. Stem stout, branching towards the summit; floating leaves opposite, oval or ovate (2–5´ long by 1½–2´ broad), 19–25-nerved, rounded or subcordate at base, with a short blunt point at apex, on short petioles, submersed leaves rather few, oblong-elliptical, acute at each end, usually ample (largest 8´ by 1½´); stipules coarse, obtuse, strongly bicarinate (2´ long); peduncles often clustered at the summit (2–4´ long), thickening upward; fruit roundish-obovate (1¾–2´´ long), 3-keeled on the back, middle keel prominent; nutlet flattened and slightly impressed on the sides, obtuse or pointed at base; apex of embryo directed transversely inward.—Streams and ditches, western N. Y. to Ill., Iowa, and Minn. Very near the last.

13. P. heterophýllus, Schreb. Stem slender, very branching below; floating leaves mostly thin, variable, but with a short blunt point, 9–15-nerved, usually 1–2´ long and 6–9´´ wide; submersed ones usually lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, acuminate or cuspidate, narrowed toward the base, about 7-nerved on the stem and 3-nerved on the branches; upper ones petioled, lower sessile; stipules obtuse, loose; peduncles somewhat thickened upward; fruit small, roundish, compressed, scarcely keeled; embryo annular above. (P. gramineus, Fries.)—Still or flowing water, common. Varies exceedingly in its submersed leaves, peduncles, etc.; the var. graminifòlius (Fries), growing in rapid streams, with stems much elongated and less branched, and the flaccid submersed leaves 2–7´ long by 2–10´´ wide.

Var. (?) myriophýllus, Robbins. Sending up from running rootstocks many short repeatedly dichotomous and densely leafy stems; fertile stems very slender; floating leaves small, delicate, lance-oblong, on long filiform petioles; submersed stem-leaves larger, early perishing; those of the branches (deep-green) linear-oblanceolate, very small (¾–1´ long), acute, sometimes minutely serrulate; spike slender, loosely-flowered, much shorter than the thickened peduncle.—Apponaug Pond, R. I., without fruit.

13^a. P. Zízii, Mert. & Koch. Resembling P. lucens, but smaller, much branched at base; upper leaves coriaceous or subcoriaceous, long-petioled and sometimes emersed, the others subsessile, all usually numerous, undulate and shining; peduncle elongated. (P. lucens, var. minor, Nolte. Also P. gramineus, var. (?) spathulæformis, Robbins; P. spathæformis, Tuckerm.; "P. varians, Morong.")—N. Eng to Fla., and westward. Connecting with the next section. (Eu.)

§ 2. Leaves all submersed and similar, mostly sessile, membranaceous and dilated, lanceolate, oblong, or oval; stipules obtuse, becoming loose.

14. P. lùcens, L. Stem thick, branching, sometimes very large; leaves more or less petioled, oval or lanceolate, mucronate, often rough serrulate, frequently shining; peduncles often elongated; fruit roundish and compressed, with obtuse margins, slightly keeled; embryo circularly incurved above.—Ponds, N. Eng. to Fla., west to the Pacific. Aug., Sept. (Eu.)

Var. (?) Connecticuténsis, Robbins. Stem flexuous; leaves all submersed, nearly sessile, lanceolate, acuminate, crisped, not shining nor serrulate; fruit larger, distinctly keeled; nutlet thick and hard.—Lake Saltonstall, East Haven, Conn.

15. P. prælóngus, Wulf. Stem very long, branching, flexuous; leaves lance-oblong or lanceolate (sometimes 7´ long), half-clasping, obtuse with a boat-shaped cavity at the extremity, thence splitting on pressure; stipules scarious, very obtuse; spikes rather loose-flowered; peduncles very long (sometimes reaching 20´); fruit obliquely obovate, compressed, sharply keeled when dry; style terminating the nearly straight face; curve of the embryo oval and longitudinal.—Ponds and large rivers, N. Scotia to Mass., west to Minn. and Iowa. Sept., Oct.—Stem white; foliage bright green. (Eu.)

16. P. perfoliàtus, L. Stem branching; leaves orbicular, ovate or lanceolate from a cordate-clasping base, usually obtuse and often minutely serrulate; peduncles short, cylindrical; fruit irregularly obovate, obtusely margined; embryo incurved in an oval.—Ponds and slow streams, common. N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn. and Iowa. Sept., Oct. (Eu.)

Var. lanceolàtus, Robbins. Larger; leaves long-lanceolate from a cordate clasping base and acuminate, wavy, 3–4½´ long; peduncles thickened upward.—Same range as the species, and extending west to the Pacific.

17. P. críspus, L. Stem compressed; leaves linear-oblong, half-clasping, obtuse, serrulate, crisped-wavy, 3-nerved; fruit long-beaked; upper portion of the embryo incurved in a large circle.—Flowing and stagnant waters, Mass. to N. J. and Va., west to western N. Y. June, July. (Eu.)

18. P. Mýsticus, Morong. Stem very slender and irregularly branching, nearly filiform (1–3° high); leaves oblong-linear (½–1½´ long by 2–3´´ wide), 5–7-nerved, finely undulate and entire, obtuse or bluntly pointed, abruptly narrowing at base, sessile or partly clasping; spikes few, capitate (4–6-flowered). on erect peduncles (1–2´ long); fruit (immature) obovate, small (hardly ¾´´ long), obscurely 3-keeled on the back, a little beaked by the slender recurved style.—Mystic Pond, Medford, Mass.

§ 3. Leaves all submersed and similar, mostly membranaceous and sessile, linear or setaceous.