Xyrichthys (zirikthis)

[NL. (Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1839), also Xirichthys, Zyrichthys; red with a large blotch on each side below the pectorals. Xyridaceæ (zir-i-dā'sē-ē), (zir-i-dā sē-ē), n. n. pl. pl. [NL., xystus sile and solitary under imbricated bracts in a terminal head. The perianth consists of three equal broad-spreading delicate corolla-lobes, and a single large petaloid caducous sepal which wraps around the corolla, or is in the tropical American genus Abolboda absent. There are perhaps 48 species, belonging mostly to the genus Xyris (the type), the others to Abolboda. They are usually perennials, growing in tufts in wet places, chiefly warm countries. They resemble the sedges and rushes in habit, the Restiaceæ in the structure of their seeds, and the spiderworts in that of their ovules.