very thick, conspicuously squarrose with the projecting cusps of the wines
F ewers green with, a tinge of yellow. Style rather slender, somewhat
dilated and furnished with a projecting gland in the middle. Seed obovate
hairy. Lobes of the caruncle diverging, nearly as long as the seed.
§ 2. Spikes ovate, in simple terminal or compound cymes : keel cristate
(the crest sometimes minute) : styles slender, 2-lobed, not cucullate :
filaments united nearly to the summit : appendage o f the caruncle very
minute or none. Biennial.
5. P. cor y mhos a (Michx.): cymes compound; spikes ovate; wings ob-
long, cuspidate; radical leaves spatulate-obovate; cauline ones linear; stem
simple below, angular.—Michx.! f t . 2. p. 54: Nu tt.! gen 2 p 89- DC
prodr. 1. p. 329. P. ramosa, Ell. sk. 2. p. 186. V i
Swamps, Sussex county, Delaware Nuttall, to New-Orleans! Texas Dr.
Leavenworth,!—Stem 8-12 inches high, simple, (except when the plant has
been injured), bearing a large terminal corymb. Radical leaves an inch long.
Spikes rather compact, half an inch in diameter. Flowers citron-yellow
becoming blackish-green in drying. Wings 4 times as long as the capsule!
Seed oblong, with a minute roundish caruncle.—Elliott has described the"
stem as branched from the base, which is never the case, except it has been
broken off, when it throws up lateral branches.
6. P. acutifolia: cyme compound; spikes ovate, rather loose; wings
oblong, rather obtuse, mucronate; exterior sepals ovate-triangular, acute; crest
conspicuous; seed subglobose, glabrous, without a caruncle; stem simple attenuated
upward; radical leaves lanceolate-linear, very acute; cauline ones
linear-subulate.
Borders of pme-barren ponds, Middle Florida, Dr. Chapman! May-Oct.
—Stem 2-3 feet high, simple, somewhat angled above. Radical leaves 2-3
inches long, attenuated to a sharp point; cauline leaves gradually diminishe
s upward to mere subulate bracts. Flowers blackish-green when dry, distinctly
pedicellate. Exterior sepals unequal; the upper one more than half as
large as the wings. Crest composed of 4-6 capitate or emarginate processes.
Style at first straight, afterwards curved above the middle : gland (stigma ? j
sessile. Capsule minute, dilated; one of the cells usually abortive. Seed
black, slightly dotted.—Resembles P. cymosa; but that species has the
cyme simple, much smaller exterior sepals, and an inconspicuous crest.
7. P. cymosa (Walt.): cyme simple; spikes ovate; wings elliptical-ob-
long, rather obtuse, mucronulate.; superior sepal half as large as the wings
rather obtuse; lateral petals distinct nearly to the base; crest minute ; seed’
subglobose, glabrous, without a caruncle; stem simple, terete, attenuated
upward; radical leaves linear-spatulate; cauline ones linear-subulate,minute.
— Walt. Car.p. 179. P. graminifolia, Poir. diet. 5. p. 500; DC. prodr. 1
p. 329. P. attenuata, Nutt. gen. 2. p. 90. P. corymbosa, Ell. sk. 2. p. 187.
(not of Michx.)
Ponds and swamps in pine barrens, North Carolina, Nuttall, to South Carolina
! and Florida ! June-Aug.—Stem 2-5 feet high. Radical leaves 2-5
inches long; cauline ones gradually diminishing in size ; the uppermost mere
scales. Cyme always simple; the peduncles short, squarrose with the persistent
bracts. Flowers yellow, drying blackish-green. Wings as long as
the corolla, obtuse, with a minute: mucronate tip. Crest formed of 2-3 very
short subulate processes. Style curved toward the summit: the gland
nearly sessile.
8. P . Baldwinii (Nutt.): Cyme compound; spikes subglobose, compact •
flowers (nearly white) on very short pedicels ; sepals all cuspidate ; the wing
oblong-lanceolate, much longer than the corolla; lateral petals distinct nearly
to the base; crest rather conspicuous; seed ovate, very hairy; caruncle very
minute, 2-lobed ; stem simple, angular; radical leaves spatulate, obtuse; cauline
ones lanceolate.—Nutt.! gen. 2.p .9 0 ; DC. prodr. 1.p. 329; E ll.s k .
2. p. 187.
0. chlorgena: flowers green when dry.
Wet pine land, Georgia, Dr. Baldwin! Le Conte!—Stem 2-3 feet high,
leafy to the summit. Leaves scarcely an inch long; cauline ones acute.
Spikes squarrose with the cuspidate points of the wings. Bracts twice as
long as the pedicels. Flowers whitish even when dry; except in 0. which, in a
dried state, are of a beautiful verdigris-green, very odorous {Le Conte.)
Wings nearly twice as long as the corolla, with along cuspidate.point. Crest
consisting of 4 narrow processes, the two exterior ones simple, the others bifid.
Style nearly straight: gland scarcely pedicellate. Seeds clothed with
spreading hairs.—The variety 0. has the flowers more distinctly pedicellate,
the cyme with longer branches, and the processes of the crest twice bifid.
It may prove to be a distinct species.
§ 3. Spikes oblong-cylindrical, compact, the flowers nearly sessile: keel
cristate : style 2-lobed, not cucullate in the middle; filaments united
nearly to the middle : caruncle cristate, spongy.
9. P. incarnata (Linn.) : glaucous ; wings lanceolate, much shorter than
the corolla; claws o f the petals united into a long slender cleft tube; lamina
of the lateral petals obovate; stem slender, mostly simple; leaves linear-subulate,
Scattered, without glandular dots.—M ich x .! fl. 2. p. 52; Pursh, fi.
2. p. 464; Ell. sk. 2. p. 185; DC. prodr. 1. p. 327.
0. stem paniculately branched; leaves very minute; tube of the corolla
a little longer than the wings.—P. paniculata, herb. Le Conte.
Dry sous, District of Columbia! to Florida! west to Arkansas! 8.
Georgia, Le Conte !— (T) Plant 1-2 feet high, erect. Leaves 4-6 lines long
(in 0. almost wanting). Spike 1—14 inch long. Bracts subulate. Flowers
pale purple or rose-color. Exterior sepals unequal, ovate-lanceolate. Wings
cuspidate, usually about half as long as the tube of the corolla. Lamina of
the petals distinct; the claws united with the filaments into a slender nearly
straight tube or sheath, which is cleft on the inside : crest very conspicuous.
Style long and filiform the greater part of its length, curved towards the summit,
bearded at the extremity: gland sessile. Seed ovate, hairy. Caruncle
2-lobed, spongy or vesicular ; the lobes projecting above the seed in the form
of a crest, and attached by the middle to the short neck or stipe of the seed.
10. P. setacea (Michx.): wings oblong, abruptly acuminate, two-thirds the
length of the petals; tube of the corolla very short; stem filiform, simple or
sparingly branched; leaves very minute, scale-like.—Michx.! ft. 2. p. 52;
Ell. sk. 2. p. 183 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 328. ;
North Carolina, Michaux ! Georgia ! to Florida!—2( 1 ( ® DC.) Stem
about a foot high, often with one or more long, slender, erect branches.
Leaves scarcely more than a line long, setaceous, ’ Spike £ of an inch long.
Flowers pale rose-color. Exterior sepals unequal; the posterior ones ovate.
Petals united about half their length; lamina of the lateral ones ovate:
crest conspicuous, composed of 6-8 filiform, sometimes emarginate, processes.
Stamens 6, distinctly diadelphous. Seed as in the preceding species.
§ 4. Spikes elongated or racemose: keel cristate: filaments united nearly
to the summit: style dilated and cucullate in the middle: appendage
o f the caruncle 2-lobed.