FLOWER DESCRIPTIONS (continued 4)

In May the slender clusters of the alum-root are found in the rocky woods.

Blue Cohosh. Caulophyllum thalictroides. Barberry Family.

Stems.—One to two and a half feet high. Leaf.—Large, divided into many lobed leaflets; often a smaller one at the base of the flower-cluster. Flowers.—Yellowish-green, clustered at the summit of the stem, appearing while the leaf is still small. Calyx.—Of six sepals, with three or four small bractlets at base. Corolla.—Of six thick, somewhat kidney-shaped or hooded petals, with short claws. Stamens.—Six. Pistil.—One. Fruit.—Bluish, berry-like.

In the deep rich woods of early spring, especially westward, may be found the clustered flowers and divided leaf of the blue 283cohosh. The generic name is from two Greek words signifying stem and leaf, “the stems seeming to form a stalk for the great leaf.” (Gray.)

Early Meadow Rue. Thalictrum dioicum. Crowfoot Family.

One to two feet high. Leaves.—Divided into many smooth, lobed, pale, drooping leaflets. Flowers.—Purplish and greenish, unisexual. Calyx.—Of four or five petal-like sepals. Corolla.—None. Stamens.—Indefinite in number, with linear yellowish anthers drooping on hair-like filaments (stamens and pistils occurring on different plants). Pistils.—Four to fourteen.

The graceful drooping foliage of this plant is perhaps more noticeable than the small flowers which appear in the rocky woods in April or May.

Lily-leaved Liparis. Liparis liliifolia. Orchis Family (p. 17).

Scape.—Low, from a solid bulb. Leaves.—Two, ovate, smooth. Flowers.—Purplish or greenish, with thread-like reflexed petals and a large brown-purplish lip an inch and a half long; growing in a raceme.

In the moist, rich woods of June we may look for these flowers. The generic name is derived from two Greek words which signify fat or shining, in reference to “the smooth or unctuous leaves.” (Gray.)

Beechdrops. Cancer-root. Epiphegus Virginiana. Broom-rape Family.

Stems.—Slender, fleshy, branching, with small scales; purplish, yellowish or brownish. Leaves.—None. Flowers.—Purplish, yellowish or brownish, spiked or racemed, small, of two kinds, the upper sterile, the lower fertile.

These curious-looking plants abound in the shade of beech-trees, drawing nourishment from their roots. The upper open flowers are sterile; the lower ones, which never expand, accomplish the continuance of their kind.

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Pine Sap. False Beechdrops. Monotropa Hypopitys. Heath Family.

A low fleshy herb without green foliage; tawny, reddish, or whitish. Flowers.—Resembling in structure those of the Indian pipe, but clustered in a raceme.

The pine sap is a parasitic plant which is closely allied to the Indian pipe (Pl. XXI.). Its clustered flowers are usually fragrant. The plant is commonly of a somewhat tawny hue, but occasionally one finds a bright red specimen. It flourishes in oak or pine-woods from June till August.

Rattlesnake-root. Prenanthes alba.

Height.—Two to four feet. Leaves.—The lower cleft or toothed, the uppermost oblong and undivided. Flower-heads.—Nodding, composed of white or greenish strap-shaped flowers surrounded by a purplish involucre.

Lion’s Foot. Gall-of-the-Earth. Prenanthes serpentaria. Composite Family (p. 13).

Height.—About two feet. Leaves.—Roughish, the lower lobed, the upper oblong lance-shaped. Flower-heads.—Nodding, composed of greenish or cream-colored strap-shaped flowers surrounded by a greenish or purple involucre.

These plants are peculiarly decorative in late summer on account of their graceful, drooping, bell-shaped flower-heads. The flowers themselves almost escape notice, and their color is rather difficult to determine, the purplish or greenish involucre being the plants’ conspicuous feature.

The generic name is from the Greek, and signifies drooping blossom.

Wild Bean. Ground-nut. Apios tuberosa. Pulse Family (p. 16).

Stem.—Twining and climbing over bushes. Leaves.—Divided into three to seven narrowly oval leaflets. Flowers.—Papilionaceous, purplish or chocolate-color, somewhat violet-scented, closely clustered in racemes.

In late summer the dark, rich flowers of the wild bean are found in short, thick clusters among the luxuriant undergrowth 285and thickets of low ground. The plant is a climber, bearing edible pear-shaped tubers on underground shoots, which give it its generic name signifying a pear.

Coral-root. Corallorhiza multiflora. Orchis Family (p. 17).

Rootstock.—Much branched, coral-like, toothed. Stem.—Nine to eighteen inches high, without green foliage. Flowers.—Rather small, dull brownish-purple or yellowish, sometimes mottled with red; growing in a raceme.

In the dry summer woods one frequently encounters the dull racemes of this rather inconspicuous little plant. It is often found in the immediate neighborhood of the Indian pipe and pine sap. Being, like them, without green foliage, it might be taken for an allied species by the casual observer. This is one of those orchids which are popularly considered unworthy to bear the name, giving rise to so much incredulity or disappointment in the unbotanical.

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