Flora of North America species comparison

green, extensively branched, forming large clumps, 2–4 cm diam., with pale leaf scars.

extensively branching, to 12 × 0.5–0.7 cm, becoming 1.5–2 cm diam., with coarse, strongly ribbed, brown, scalelike leaves.

2–3-branched, solid, 10–15(–20+) dm.

simple or rarely 1-branched, 3–7 dm.

basal 4–6, erect, blade bright green, ensiform, 10–13 dm × 2–3 cm, apex slightly curved;

cauline with blade foliaceous, appearing as elongated spathe, 5–6.5 dm × 2–3 cm, not exceeding flowers.

basal with blade green, often with red-brown margins, lightly ribbed, linear-ensiform, 3–5 dm × 1.5–2.3 cm, glaucous, apex acute;

cauline 2–3, spreading, blade narrowly linear, 0.5–0.7 cm wide, apex acute.

2–3-flowered, branch units 1–2-flowered;

spathes tightly enclosing ovary and pedicel, 15–20 cm, subequal;

outer narrowly lanceolate, keeled, margins pale, narrow, inner margins translucent, broad, scarious.

1-flowered, branch unit (if present) 1-flowered;

spathes covering pedicel, ovary, floral tube, and base of sepals, unequal, outer 3 cm × 10 mm, inner 6 cm × 10 mm.

perianth blue or blue-purple;

floral tube tubular-prismatic, 9-ribbed and -grooved, 4–5 cm;

sepals blue or blue-purple with white streaks surrounding signal, oval to orbicular-oval, 9.5–11 × 4–5 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw, apex obtusely angled, signal with raised, yellow, pubescent central ridge, claw green, striate, 4–4.5 × 1–1.2 cm;

petals erect or spreading-erect, spatulate, 7–8.5 × 2–3 cm, base cuneate, apex emarginate;

ovary bluntly 6-angled, 4–4.5 cm;

style blue-violet, keeled, 3.5–4 cm, raised above sepals, crests recurved, 1.5–2 cm, margins sharply and irregularly serrate;

stigmas 2-lobed with 2 triangular teeth;

pedicel columnar, 3.5–5 cm.

perianth blue-violet;

floral tube with brown striations, funnelform, 2–2.5 cm;

sepals blue-violet with deeper veins, with yellow-white signal, orbicular, 7–8 × 3–4 cm, base abruptly attenuate into whitish claw with yellow-brown veining;

petals mostly hidden by bases of sepals, much reduced, 1.5 × 0.3–0.5 cm, bristle absent;

ovary trigonal, with shallow groove at each angle, 1.5 cm;

style 3.5–4 cm, crests linear to subquadrate, 1–1.8 cm, margins sometimes incised;

stigmas semicircular, margins entire;

pedicel 2–3.5 cm.

drooping, bright green, ellipsoid, hexagonal in cross section, with 6 broad, rounded lobes, 8–10 × 3 cm, indehiscent;

after anthesis, flower stem elongates, arching downward to push capsule into water, where walls are broken down and as funiculus is broken, seed rises to surface.

globose to oblong, obtusely 3-angled, with rounded angles, 2.5–4 × 2 cm, rounded basally, abruptly contracted into beak apically.

in 2 rows per locule, brown, D-shaped, 8–10 mm wide, very corky.

in 1 row per locule, dark red-brown, semicircular, flattened, 6–8 mm;

seed coat thick.

= 44.

= 40.