Melanthium parviflorum

Rhizomes 0.6–3 × 0.5–1.2 cm; bulbs 1–1.6 cm. Stems 2/3–4/5 floriferous, 0.5–1.5 m. Leaf blades broadly oblanceolate to obovate, slightly plicate, 17–35 × 4.5–12.5 cm, apex obtuse to submucronate. Inflorescences 2.5–10 dm; terminal raceme 1–4.4 dm; secondary racemes spreading to occasionally perpendicular, 0.6–2.2(–2.4) dm; tertiary racemes rare, sometimes replacing first flowers on lower secondaries; bracts subulate, dark green, 2–4 mm, densely floccose abaxially, basally, and marginally. Tepals greenish yellow to olive green, aging to light green, narrowly rhombic to oblanceolate, 5–9 × 1.3–3 mm, base gradually attenuate to a narrow stalk, not clawed, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate; glands obscure, whitened in age, not nectariferous; stamens 3–4.5 mm; filaments inserted on tepal bases, 0.4 mm from ovary base, slightly dilated basally, barely 1/3 as wide as tepals at insertion point; anthers 0.5 mm; ovary ovoid, glabrous; styles 1–1.5 mm; pedicel spreading to nearly perpendicular, 5.5–11 mm. Capsules elliptic-oblong, 10–18 × 7–10 mm, glabrous. Seeds 7.5–10 × 3.5–4.5 mm (including wings). 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Rich, moist, deciduous woods on mountain slopes and crests
Elevation: 800–2000 m

Ala., Ga., Ky., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa