An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions/Convallariaceae
Family 23.
Convallariaceae
Link.
Handb. 1: 184.
1829.
Lily-of-the-Valley Family.
Scapose or leafy-stemmed herbs, with simple or branched rootstocks, never with bulbs or corms. Flowers solitary, racemose, panicled or umbelled, regular and perfect. Leaves broad, parallel-veined and sometimes with cross-veinlets, alternate, verticillate or basal, or in Asparagus and its allies reduced to scales bearing filiform or flattened branchlets in their axils. Perianth inferior, 4-6-parted with separate segments, or oblong, cylindric or urn-shaped and 6-lobed or 6-toothed. Stamens 6, rarely 4, hypogynous or borne on the perianth; anthers introrsely, extrorsely or laterally dehiscent. Ovary 2~3-celled, superior; ovules anatropous or amphitropous; style slender or short; stigma mostly 3-lobed. Fruit a fleshy berry, rarely a capsule. Seeds few or numerous. Embryo small.
About 23 genera and 215 species, widely distributed.
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• | Leaves reduced to scales ; leaf-like bractlets filiform. | 1. | Asparagus. | |||||||||
• | Leaves broad; stems simple or somewhat branched. | |||||||||||
• | Leaves basal; flowers umbelled or solitary. | 2. | Clintonia. | |||||||||
• | Leaves alternate (solitary in flowerless plants of no. 4). | |||||||||||
• | Perianth-segments separate. | |||||||||||
• | Flowers racemed, umbelled, panicled or solitary, terminal. | |||||||||||
• | Flowers racemed or panicled. | |||||||||||
• | Perianth-segments 6. | 3. | Vagnera. | |||||||||
• | Perianth-segments 4. | 4. | Unifolium. | |||||||||
• | Flowers umbelled or solitary. | |||||||||||
• | Fruit a berry. | 5. | Disporum. | |||||||||
• | Fruit a capsule. | 6. | Uvularia. | |||||||||
• | Flowers solitary or two together, axillary. | 7. | Streptopus. | |||||||||
• | Perianth cylindric or oblong, 6-toothed. | 8. | Polygonatum. | |||||||||
• | Leaves nearly basal; flowers racemed; perianth 6-toothed. | 9. | Convallana. | |||||||||
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