Flowering Plants: Lilies to Orchids

Introduction

Introduction This is the second of many volumes devoted to the flowering plants of Illinois. The first six of these will be concerned with that group of flowering plants referred to by botanists as monocotyledons , or monocots. Technically, these are plants which produce, on the germination of the seed, a single "seed-leaf," or cotyledon, as opposed to dicotyledons, or dicots, which produce two "seed-leaves" upon germination of the seed. More practically, monocots are usually recognized by their long, slender , grass-like leaves and their flower parts often in threes or sixes, although this is not always the case. Monocots include many plants familiar to most of us, such as lilies, irises, orchids, rushes, grasses, and sedges. The first volume begins with flowering rushes, follows with arrowheads, pondweeds, duckweeds, and cat-tails, and ends with spiderworts and rushes. The second volume commences with lilies, follows with irises, and concludes with orchids. The third and fourth volumes will be devoted to grasses, while the fifth and sixth volumes will include the sedges. The nomenclature followed in this volume has been arrived at after lengthy consultation of recent flores and monographs of the plants concerned. The sequence of taxa presented here essentially follows that proposed for the forthcoming Flora North America series. It is basically a compromise of the systems of Cronquist (1968) and Thorne (1968). Synonyms, with complete author citation, which have applied to species in the northeastern United States, are given under each species. A description, while not necessarily intended to be complete, covers the more important features of the species. The common name (or names) is that which is used locally in Illinois. The habitat designation is not always the habitat throughout the range of the species, but only for it in Illinois. The overall range for each species is given from its northeastern to northwestern extremities, south to its southwestern limit, and eastward to its southeastern limit. 1 z I INTRODUCTION The range has been compiled from various sources, including examination of herbarium material. A general statement is given concerning the range of each species in Illinois. Dot maps showing county distribution of each monocot in Illinois are provided. Each dot represents a voucher specimen deposited in some herbarium. There has been no attempt to locate the dot with reference to the actual locality within each county. The distribution has been compiled from field study as well as herbarium study. Herbaria from which specimens have been studied are the Field Museum of Natural History, Eastern Illinois University, the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois State Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, Southern Illinois University, the United States National Herbarium, the University of Illinois, and Western Illinois University. In addition , a few private collections have been examined. Each species is illustrated, showing the habitat as well as some of the distinguishing features in detail. Miriam Wysong Meyer has prepared all of the illustrations. Several persons have given invaluable assistance in this study. Dr. Robert F. Thorne of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden and Mr. Floyd Swink of the Morton Arboretum have read and commented on the entire manuscript. Dr. John D. Freeman, Auburn University, has made valuable comments on the genus Trillium. For courtesies extended in their respective herbaria, the author is indebted to Dr. Robert A. Evers, Illinois Natural History Survey, Dr. G. Neville Jones, University of Illinois, Dr. Glen S. Winterringer, Illinois State Museum, Dr. Arthur Cronquist, New York Botanical Garden, Dr. Jason Swallen , the United States National Herbarium, Dr. Lorin I. Nevling, the Gray Herbarium, Dr. Robert Henry, Western Illinois University , Dr. John Ebinger, Eastern Illinois University, and Drs. George B. Van Schaack and Hugh Cutler, the Missouri Botanical Garden. Southern Illinois University provided time and space for the preparation of this work. The Graduate School and the Mississippi Valley Investigations and its director, the late Dr. Charles Colby, all of Southern Illinois University, furnished funds for the field work and the salary for the illustrator. A detailed discussion of the morphology of Illinois monocots and the habitats of Illinois monocots may be found in the volume covering flowering rushes to rushes. Introduction I 3 SEQUENCE OF MONOCOT FAMILIES The sequence of families of monocots and their placement into orders in most floras follow the arrangement of Engler or modifications of it. Thus the traditional division of monocots in Illinois is into nine orders. Detailed study...