Torrey Botanical Society

Studies in Sisyrinchium-V: Two New Eastern Species

Author(s): Eugene P. Bicknell
Source: Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 26, No. 9 (Sep., 1899), pp. 496-499
Published by: Torrey Botanical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2478019
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Species
Studiesin Sisyrinchium-V.
Twon3weastern
BY EUGENE

P.

BICKNELL

Up to the present timefourspecies of Sisyrinc/ziizmhave been

recognized in the floraof the easterncoastwisestates from New
Miller,the commonJerseynorthward. These are S. aOngUstifolium
estspecies of New York and New England and the onlyone ranging farnorthwardand eastward throughMaine to the provinces;
S. gramiinoides,extendingfromeast Massachusetts farsouthward
and westward; S. Atlanticiwii,abundantalong thecoast fromMasas at Stratton,
sachusettssouthwardand occasionally foundinlanid,
Vermont(A. J. Grout) and Concord, New Hampshire (W. W.
Eggleston), and S. imroui-otzumMichx.,commonin theAlleghany
regionof east Pennsylvaniaand extendingto central New York
but as yet not reportedeast of the Delaware River.
To these four species two others must now be added, one a
the otheroccuring
coastwiseplant of New York and New Jei-sey,
fromsouthern New Jerseysouthward. These new species are
here described.

Sisyrinchiumarenicola

Closely caespitosein stifferecttufts20-40 cm. tall fromshort

woody rootstocks,the tuftscoarsely brown-fibrousat base, tlle
fibrousroots numerous,long and slender,becomingnearlyblack:
stems and leaves rather bright green, sometimes glauces-e it,
readilydiscoloringto brown or black in drying,the spathesand
often the stems and leaves purplish-tinged leaves usually over
h Ulfthe heightof the stem,stiffand erect,oftensligThtly
curved,
minutely
stronglyclose-striate,
. 5-3 mm.wide,cuspidate-attenuate,
cellular-puncticulatebetween the nerves,the edges denticulatescrrulate to smooth: stem erect but often forminga shallowv
double curve,sometimesspirallytwisted, -3 mm.wide,the distinct
or smooth; bractealleaf
wvings
firm,striate,denticulate-serrulate
con1spicuous,erect,continuingthe line of the stem,oftenslightly
incurved, attenuate-acute,usually subequal with the peduncles,
the ratherbroad compressed base stronglystriateand oppositely
bicarinate; peduncles 2-4, suberect or somewhat outcurved,in
theirearly developmentappearinglateral fromthe stem,approxithe outer one oftendivergent,somewhat
mate or, when only twvo,
uinequal,veryshort or elongated, 3-I2 cm. long, stiff,wing-mar(496)

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BICKNELL: STUDIE3 IN SISYRINCHIUM

497

*ginedand serrulate,mostly I mm. or more wide (.5-2 mm.):

spathes erect,the mostlycuspidate-acuminatebracts striate with
delicate raised nerves,slightlyunequal or the outer one slenderly
occurs,
prolonged foras much as 2 cm. when,as not infrequently
over
becoming7
the stemis simple; interiorscales brownish-tinged,
34

the length of the inner bract: flowers deep violet-blue, often

numerous,3-I2, on nearly erect,slightlyexsertedpedicels 15-22

mm. long,whichbecome somewhatspreadingabove in fruit; perianth 8-io mm. long; stamineal column 4-5 mm. high, anthers
small, brightorange-yellow; capsules dark and thick-walled,subglobose to obovoid,3-5 mm.high: seeds black,globose, I-I.5 mm
in diameter, distinctlypitted and with a ratherprominent umbilicus.
In sand or sandy soil near the coast, Long Island to New
jersey, flowering from June till August, the fruitsometimes per-

sistingtill October.

New Jersey: Point Pleasant, Ocean Co., July 17, I882, E. H.

Day: Monmouth Co., Oct. 2, i886, N. L. Britton.
New York:
Staten Island, Todt Hill, June I2, I887, and

Tottenville,Aug. 3, I 890, N. L. Britton; Long Island, Southampton, June, i898, W. N. Clute; Hempstead,June 30, I899, Miss
Fanny A. Mulford; Sag Harbor, July 20, I899, stillin flower,N.
L. Britton; Amagansett,Aug. 7, I899, Miss E. Babcock.
The specimenscited are containedin the herbariaof Columbia
Universityand the New York Botanical Garden and in my private
collection.
AIninterestingand unexpected additionto our eastern coast
flora, of very restrictedrange, so far as yet appears, but in all
probabilityextendingfurthersouth than New Jerseyand eastward
to the New England coast.*

The species is a perfectlydistinctone and though appearing

is in closer rewithS. graininoidesand S. Atlviticurm
intervenient
lationshipwith a group of more southernspecies, including S.
characterized by a dense
Greene and S. rutfipes,
xerop/iylluln
fibrouscoating about the base of the tufts. In the possession of
this characterS. arenicoladiffersnotablyfromall otherspecies of
species in
the northernstates except S. Far-zellii,a very different
otherrespects.
On herbariumsheets specimenssometimesshow fullyas much
* Mr. I6icknell writes, under the date of September 14, that he finds S. a-enicola
the common species on Nantucket Island.-Ed.

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498

BICKNELL: STUDIES IN SISYRINCHIUM

discolorationas S. graininoidesand might be easily passed over

for that species, but a moment's attentionwill discover that the
in habit than S. g7waminoidcs
plant is more caespitose and stiffer
withnarrowerand more attenuate leaves which are thickerand
more stronglystriate; other evident differencesare shorter,freand more striatebracts,more
quentlyclustered peduncles,stiffer
numerousflowersand smallercapsules on less exsertedand spreading pedicels.

As comparedwithS. Atllaticuniii,S. a;e;uicola is stouterand

neverdeveloping,a flexuous prolongationof the stemfronm

stiffer,
a lower node, anidhaving much less membranousbractswhichare
and acuminate,also the capsules are
decidedlymore striate-nerved
relativelymore subglobose and thieseeds larger. Perhaps the
mostevidentfeatureof contrastbetweenthe twvoplantsis in color,
the rather deep greeniof S. arL'u!co/a producing a very different
general effectfromthe verypale glaucous-greeniof S. Atlanltiii;.
It should also be noted that the floweringperiodof S. arniczvol5
is considerablylater than that of S. Alt/ati?cu;ii or S. gl-al'luloi'(I's.

Sisyrinchiumintermedium
Dull green,sometimesnot even glaucescent,turning,dark in
drying,the spathes pur-pleor occasionallygreen: tuftsnot fibrous
at base, I5-35 cm. high,the stems oftennumerous,the clustered
roots numerous and slender: leaves erect,about half the height
of the tufts,I.5-2.5 mm. wide,attenuateand cuspidate-acute,thin
and grass-like,the delicatenervesusuallywitha fainteralternating
the edges
minutelycellular-puncticulate,
series,the tissue betwveen
to smooth; youn(,
minutelyserrulateor even subciliolate-serrulate
leaves sometimes roughened on the sides with minute points:
stems very straight,frail,mostly I.5 mm. wide (1-2.5 mm.), the
edges and nerved like the
thinwings with closely fine-serrulate
leaves, usually much broader than the verynarrowraised line of
the proper stem; stemsin some tuftsall or nlearlyall simple,
in others mostly forked at the top into two or even three
pedunculate spathes subtended by a ratherlonger erect bracted
leaf; peduncles 3-7 cm. long, often rouglhened on the sides
with minute points,the outer one somewhat divergentlyoutcurved,usually slender but distinctlywinged,the wings serrulate,
graduallywidened into the base of the spathe: spathes narrow,
sometimes not wider than the stem, erect,flattenedand rather
to the base and margined
sharplytwo-edged,the sides narr-owed

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BICKNELL:

STUDIES

IN SISYRINCHIUM

499

below by the ascendingwings of the stem; bracts thin,glabrous,

delicatelynerved,the outer one on simple stemsprolongedbeyond
the inner 8-40 mm. and sometimesthree times its length, in
pedunculate spathes oftenbut littleprolonged,2-6 cm. long, obthe edges not united
scurely or verynarrowlyhyaline-margined,
below; inner bract narrow,r5-20 mm. long, narrowlyhyalinemargined,mostlyattenuateand cuspidate-acute,rarelyscarious-obtuse and mucronulate; interiorscales acuminate,brownish-tinged,
about 23 the lengthof the inner bract: flowers 5-6, pale blue;
4-5 mm.high: capsules
perianth8-I4 mm.long; stamineal-column
on slenderlyexsertedand flexuouslyspreadingpedicels 17-25 mm.
in length,brown,broadlysubglobose, or obovoid, 4 mm. high.
SouthernNew Jerseyto North Carolina,floweringin May and
early June.
New Jersey: GloucesterCo., June I, I 892, B. Heritage,Herb.
Phil. Bot. Club.
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, A. B. Monoy, Herb. Mo. Bot.
Gard.
Districtof Columbia: W. M. Can-by,U. S. Nat. Herb.
North Carolina: Buncombe Co., Thos. Hogg, May, i886,
Herb. ColumbiaUniv.; G. McCarthy,May, i888, U. S. Nat. Herb.;
May 8, I897, Biltmore Herb.; Wake Co., May, I896, W. W.
Ashe, Herb. W. W. A.; Henderson Co., Mrs. Schoolbred, I857,
Herb. N. Y. Bot. Gard.; also two sheets without recordin Herb.
Mo. Bot. Gard., one " ex herb. Bernhardi."
A perplexingplant appearing about intermediatebetweenS.
yetnotto be correlatedwitheither
gaz-ainoidcs and S. microonatun,
one, althoughin its mostdivergentforms,showinga nearapproach
to both. The more branichedforms,which are nearest to S.
gram;zinoides differin narrowerand more attenuate leaves and
purple spathes,and usually also develop many simple stemsbearing spathes withmuch prolongedouter bracts; the brancheswhen
presentare mostlyshorterand more slenderthan in S. graminoides
and, like the younger leaves, may be roughenedon the sides; the
marginsof the stem and leaves are also usually more definitely
serrulatethan in S. grarninoides.
be all simpleclosely
The oppositeformin whichthe stemsnmay
simulates S. izizcronatumbut dries dark and has thinner,more
broadly winged stem and larger darker capsules on flexuously
spreadingpedicels as in S. grarminoides.

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