2a. var. canadense

Pl. 99 a

Aerial stems 25–70 cm long. Leaves 1–6 mm wide. Some or all of the flowers replaced by ovoid bulblets 4–10 mm long, these acute to long-beaked and often germinating while still attached to the inflorescence. Flower stalks, when present, usually somewhat thickened, 2–4 times as long as the perianth at flowering. Fruits rarely produced. 2n=14, 21, 28 (2n=28 in Missouri). May–July.

Common throughout Missouri (eastern U.S. and adjacent Canada west to Montana and Texas). Openings of mesic bottomland to upland forests, stream banks, bluffs, prairies, old fields, pastures, railroad embankments, roadsides, and various other disturbed areas.

This is the commonest of the three varieties in Missouri and also the one most adapted to disturbed habitats. The plants almost never produce fruits, thus dispersal is entirely by the bulblets that replace some or all of the flowers.