keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

1128 TOFIELDIACEAE
Many authorities have put them in a broadly defined and clearly polyphyletic (but practical)
Liliaceae (e.g., Correll & Johnston 1970; Cronquist 1988; Diggs et al. 1999) based on superficial
similarities in flower structure to the genus Lilium. Others have put them in the
Amaryllidaceae (based on the umbellate inflorescence—e.g., Hutchinson 1934) or the Alliaceae
(e.g., Dahlgren et al. 1985; Mabberley 1997), which they resemble morphologically (but onion
odor is lacking). However, based on phylogenetic analyses (Fay & Chase 1996; Pires et al. 2001),
we are following Rahn (1998b) and Pires et al. (2001) in recognizing the Themidaceae as a distinct
family. It is apparently a monophyletic group in the order Asparagales, more closely related
to the Hyacinthaceae than to the Amaryllidaceae-Alliaceae complex (Fay & Chase 1996).
As such, it is more closely related to other Asparagales families such as the Iridaceae and
Orchidaceae than it is to other taxa often put in a broadly defined Liliaceae (Chase et al. 1995a,
1995b, 1996, 2000; Fay et al. 2000; Pires et al. 2001). For a detailed discussion of the groups formerly
treated as Liliaceae in the broad sense, see the family synopsis of the Liliaceae (here
treated in a restricted sense) on page 726. Recently, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG II
2003) proposed optionally including Themidaceae in a very broadly defined Asparagaceae (including
such families as Agavaceae and Hyacinthaceae). Family name from Themis, now considered
to be included in Triteleia (TRIPLET-LILY), a genus of 15 species of w North America and n
Mexico (Pires 2002). (Name a “nomen poeticum” according to Salisbury (1866), the original author)
(subclass Liliidae—Cronquist; order Asparagales—APG II)
FAMILY RECOGNITION IN THE FIELD: the only East Texas species is a scapose perennial herb from a
corm, with 1–6(–9) lavender-blue flowers in an umbel-like cluster subtended by membranous
bracts; filaments � united to form a tube, with appendages forming a crown between the anthers.
REFERENCES: Dahlgren et al. 1985; Fay & Chase 1996; Rahn 1998b; Pires et al. 2001; Pires &
Sytsma 2002.
ANDROSTEPHIUM Torr. FUNNEL-LILY
AA genus of 3 species of the sw U.S. and n Mexico (Pires & Reveal 2002); some are cultivated
as ornamentals. (Greek: andros, male, and stephanos, a crown, in reference to the apical appendages
of the fused filaments—Pires & Reveal 2002)
REFERENCES: Uphof 1944; Pires & Reveal 2002.
Androstephium coeruleum (Scheele) Greene, (dark blue), BLUE FUNNEL-LILY. Glabrous scapose perennial
from a fibrous-coated corm; leaves gray-green, basal, linear, 2.5(–3) mm or less wide,
longer than the scape (= flowering stem), exserted from a broad, loose, thinly papery, sheathing
bract; scape to 25(–35) cm tall but usually � 15 cm; flowers 1–6(–9) in an umbel-like cluster
subtended by membranous bracts, strongly spicy-sweet scented; perianth lavender-blue, 16–
24(–30) mm long, of 6 segments fused basally to form a � narrow tube, the free lobes slightly
shorter to slightly longer than the tube; stamens inserted on perianth; filaments � united to
form a tube, with bifid apical appendages forming a crown between the anthers; ovary superior;
style 1; capsule 10–16 mm long. Prairies; Blackland Prairie (on the Austin Chalk) w to e Edwards
Plateau and Rolling Plains; KS, OK, and TX. Late Mar–mid-Apr.
TOFIELDIACEAE Takht.
FALSE ASPHODEL FAMILY
AA very small family of 3 genera and ca. 18 species of rhizomatous herbs found in both the
Old and New worlds, generally in temperate to circumboreal regions (Zomlefer 1997b). The
genera have been variously treated in terms of family affiliation. Many authorities have put
them in a very broad and clearly polyphyletic (but practical) Liliaceae (e.g., Correll & Johnston
1970; Cronquist 1988), while others have treated them in a polyphyletic Melanthiaceae (e.g.,
Dahlgren et al. 1985; Mabberley 1997) or Nartheciaceae (e.g., Tamura 1998c). The Tofieldiaceae,