An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions/Melanthaceae
Family 21.
Melanthàceae
R. Br.
Prodr. 1: 272.
1810.
Bunch-flower Family.
Leafy-stemmed herbs (some exotic genera scapose), with rootstocks or rarely with bulbs, the leaves broad or grass-like, parallel-veined, the veins often connected by transverse veinlets. Flowers perfect, polygamous, or dioecious, regular, racemose, panicled or solitary. Perianth of 6 separate or nearly separate, usually persistent segments. Stamens 6, borne on the bases of the perianth-segments. Anthers small, 2-celled, oblong or ovate, or confluently 1-celled and cordate or reniform, mostly versatile and extrorsely dehiscent (introrse in Tofieldia, Triantha and Abama). Ovary 3-celled, superior or rarely partly inferior; ovules few or numerous in each cavity, anatropous or amphitropous. Styles 3, distinct or nearly so. Fruit a capsule with septicidal dehiscence (loculicidal in Abama). Seeds commonly tailed or appendaged. Embryo small, in usually copious endosperm.
About 40 genera and 145 species, widely distributed.
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| • | Anthers oblong or ovate, 2-celled. | |||||||||||
| • | Anthers introrsely dehiscent. | |||||||||||
| • | Capsule septicidal; flowers involucrate by 3 bractlets. | |||||||||||
| • | Inflorescence centripetal; seeds unappendaged. | 1. | Tofieldia. | |||||||||
| • | Inflorescence centrifugal; seeds appendaged. | 2. | Triantha. | |||||||||
| • | Capsule loculicidal; flowers not involucrate. | 3. | Abama. | |||||||||
| • | Anthers extrorsely dehiscent. | |||||||||||
| • | Flowers perfect. | |||||||||||
| • | Leaves basal, oblanceolate; seeds numerous. | 4. | Xerophyllum. | |||||||||
| • | Stem very leafy; leaves linear; seeds few. | 5. | Helonias. | |||||||||
| • | Flowers dioecious; stem leafy. | 6. | Chamaelirium. | |||||||||
| • | Anthers cordate or reniform, confluently 1-celled. | |||||||||||
| • | Plants glabrous. | |||||||||||
| • | Perianth-segments not gland-bearing. | |||||||||||
| • | Flowers perfect; perianth-segments obtuse. | 7. | Chrosperma. | |||||||||
| • | Flowers polygamous; perianth-segments acuminate. | 8. | Stenanthium. | |||||||||
| • | Perianth-segments bearing 1 or 2 glands, or a spot. | |||||||||||
| • | Plant with a thick horizontal rootstock; perianth-segments with 2 glands. | 9. | Zygadenus. | |||||||||
| • | Plants bulbous, or with short erect rootstocks; perianth-segments with 1 gland. | |||||||||||
| • | Flowers perfect; bulbs membranous-coated. | |||||||||||
| • | Ovary partly inferior; gland obcordate. | 10. | Anticlea. | |||||||||
| • | Ovary wholly superior; gland obovate or half-orbicular. | 11. | Toxicoscordion. | |||||||||
| • | Flowers polygamous; rootstocks fibrous-coated. | 12. | Oceanoros. | |||||||||
| • | Stem and inflorescence pubescent. | |||||||||||
| • | Perianth-segments distinctly clawed, glandless. | 13. | Melanthium. | |||||||||
| • | Perianth-segments not clawed or very short-clawed, 2-glandular. | 14. | Veratrum. | |||||||||
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