Liliaceae L.
Liliaceae (Nartheciaceae), Tofieldia family.
Plants herbs; not vegetatively proliferating by bulbils; without milky juice; not glandular viscid. Taproot absent. Aerial stems not conspicuously jointed; not filiform. Branches not glaucous; epidermis not flaky. Leaves mostly basal; alternate; not distinctly distichous; simple; not heterophyllous. Stipules absent. Petioles absent. Ligules absent. Blades 10–50(–70) mm long; 1–3 mm wide; spreading from the vertical; herbaceous; straight; linear; without auricles; flat; with parallel veins; not septate nodulose; adaxial surface dull; adaxial surface glabrous. Blades abaxial surface glabrous. Leaves not lobed. Leaf margins entire; glabrous. Conspicuous hydathodes absent. Leaf apices acuminate, or acute (but without callouses). Plants bisexual.
Flowering stems 3–15(–20) cm long; with leaves, or without leaves; glabrous. Flowering culm nodes not rooting at the lower nodes. Flag leaf sheaths not inflated. Leaf or reduced bract closely associated with the base of the inflorescence absent; without calloused tip. Flowers in inflorescences. Inflorescences head-like; inflorescence terminal; inflorescence dense; inflorescence oblong, or globose or subglobose, or cylindrical; inflorescence 0.5–1.5 cm long; inflorescence 5–8 mm wide; inflorescence without bulbils. Bisexual spike(s) without empty bracts at the base. Involucral bracts flowers on pedicels that have bracts leaves. Flowers per inflorescence 4–15; small, less than 5 mm in diameter or length; sessile or subsessile (subtended by small bract); bisexual; actinomorphic. Floral scales not reflexed; not falling early. Callus not differentiated. Perianth present. Calyx present; sepals 3; sepals free; sepals 2–3 mm long; green, or yellow, or purple; petaloid; non-accrescent; glabrous. Petals present; 3; free; green, or white, or yellow, or purple; without contrasting markings; obovate; not tipped with an awn-like bristle; 2–3 mm long; not spurred; same length as the calyx. Stamens 6; filaments all equal in length; free of the corolla. Anthers yellow (and persisting); subglobose; 0.3–0.4 mm long. Nectaries absent. Carpels syncarpous; 3. Gynoecia superior. Ovaries glabrous. Styles absent (or very short with a stubby stigma). Stigmas per style 1. Placentation axile. Ovules 15–30. Fruit with calyx persisting; a capsule; spherical, or ovoid, or obovate; dehiscent; 1–2 mm long; 1–2 mm wide; dry; yellowish, or black, or brown; glabrous. Legume valves straight. Styles may persist until dehiscence but are not modified. Seeds 5–30; 0.5–1 mm long; brown; smooth.
Distribution. Canada.
Notes. Represented by two species of Tofieldia.
Species in world 420, genera in world 10. Genera in study region: Tolfeldia.
Classification. Subclass Monocotyledonae. Dahlgren’s Superorder Liliiflorae, Order Liliales.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L.Consaul, R.L. Boles, R. Elven and M.E. LeBlanc. 2001 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Volume 1. Pteridophytes and Monocotyledons: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 16th March 2001. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000), and Aiken, Dallwitz et al. (1999) should also be cited (see References).