Xiphidium
(from xiphos, a sword, and eides, likeness; alluding to the shape of the leaves). ORD. Haemodoraceae. A genus consisting of two species (perhaps varieties of one) of stove, perennial herbs, with short rhizomes, natives of tropical America. Flowers rather small, glabrous, shortly pedicellate at the sides of the simple panicle branches, unilateral; perianth tube none, the segments equal, oblong, spreading, not decurrent at base; stamens three, affixed at the base of the inner segments. Leaves rather broadly linear or long-lanceolate, distichous, membranous, equitant. X. floribundum thrives in an equal mixture of loam, peat, and sand. It may be readily increased by division of the roots.
X. albidum (whitish). A synonym of X. floribundum.
X. floribundum (bundle-flowered). fl. white or blue, eight to ten along the branches of the panicle; perianth segments 1/3in. long, oblong-lanceolate, glabrescent; panicle pubescent. May and June. l. oblong-lanceolate or oblong, 1in. to 2in. broad, acuminate, often distinctly muricated at the edges, glabrous. h. 1ft. to 2ft. West Indies, 1856. (B. M. 5055). SYN. X. albidum. X. giganteum is a very broad-leaved form, with entire margins.