Melanthium
(from melas, black, and anthos, a flower; in allusion to the darker colour which the persistent perianth assumes after blossoming). SYN. Leimanthium. ORD. Liliaceae. A genus comprising only three species of hardy bulbous plants, confined to North America. Flowers yellowish-white, small, copiously racemose-paniculate; perianth of six widely-spreading segments. Leaves linear or lanceolate, membranous, glabrous. Stems loose, leafy. The species are not much grown in our gardens. For culture, &c., see Veratrum. M. virginicum (Virginian). Bunch Flower. fl., perianth cream-colour, turning brown, and persistent; segments heart-shaped or oblong and halbert-shaped. July. l. lanceolate or linear, grass-like, those from the root broader. Stem simple, 3ft. to 5ft. high. (B. M. 985, under name of Helonias virginica.)