494 



MELANTHACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



2. Melanthium latifolium Desr. Crisped 

 Bunch-flower. Fig. 1236. 



f Melanthium hybridum Walt. Fl. Car. 125. 1788. 

 M. latifolium Desr. in Lam. Encycl. 4: 25. 1797. 



Melanthium latifolium longipcdicellatum A. Brown, 

 Bull. Torr. Club 23: 152. 1896. 



Stem stout or slender, 2 -4 tall. Leaves ob- 

 lanceolate, acute, 6"-2' wide, the lower clasping, 

 the upper sessile and much smaller; panicle usu- 

 ally i long or more, its branches ascending or 

 spreading; flowers 6"-8" broad, greenish white, 

 turning darker ; blade of the perianth-segments 

 orbicular or ovate, undulate and crisped, longer 

 than the claw or about equalling it, bearing 2 

 glands at the base ; capsule 6"-8' long, its cavi- 

 ties 4-8-seeded ; seeds rather larger than those of 

 the preceding species; flowers fragrant. 



In dry woods and on hills, Connecticut to Pennsyl- 

 vania and South Carolina. Ascends to 2000 ft. in 

 North Carolina. Pedicels 3" -8" long. July-Aug. 



14. VERATRUM L. Sp. PI. 1044. 1753. 



Tall perennial herbs, with thick short poisonous rootstocks, the leaves mostly broad, 

 clasping, strongly veined and plaited, the stem and inflorescence pubescent. Flowers green- 

 ish or yellowish or purple, rather large, polygamous or monoecious, on short stout pedicels 

 in large terminal panicles. Perianth-segments 6, glandless or nearly so, not clawed, some- 

 times adnate to the base of the ovary. Stamens opposite the perianth-segments and free 

 from them, short, mostly curved. Anthers cordate, their sacs confluent. Ovary ovoid ; 

 styles 3, persistent. Capsule 3-lobed, 3-celled, the cavities several-seeded. Seeds very flat, 

 broadly winged. [Ancient name of the Hellebore.] 



About 12 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following another occurs 

 in southern United States and 3 in western North America. Type species: Veratrum album L. 



Flowers yellowish green ; perianth-segments pubescent, ciliate. 

 Flowers purple or greenish ; perianth-segments glabrous or nearly so. 



Flowers purple ; pedicels short. 



Flowers greenish ; pedicels filiform. 



i. Veratrum viride Ait. American White 



Hellebore. Indian Poke. Poke-root. 



Fig. '1237. 



Veratrum viride Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 422. 1789. 



Rootstock erect, 2'-$' long, r'-a' thick, with 

 numerous fibrous-fleshy roots. Stem stout, 2-8 

 tall, very leafy; leaves acute, the lower broadly oval 

 or elliptic, 6'-i2' long, 3'-6' wide, short-petioled or 

 sessile, sheathing, the upper successively narrower, 

 those of the inflorescence small ; panicle 8'-2 long, 

 densely many-flowered, its lower branches spreading 

 or somewhat drooping; pedicels i"-3" long, mostly 

 shorter than the bracts; flowers yellowish green, 8"- 

 12" broad ; perianth-segments oblong or oblanceo- 

 late, ciliate-serrulate, twice as long as the stamens ; 

 ovary glabrous ; capsule io"-i2" long, 4"-6" thick, 

 many-seeded ; seed 4"~5" long. 



In swamps and wet woods, New Brunswick and Que- 

 bec to Ontario, south to Georgia, Tennessee and Minne- 

 sota. Ascends to 4000 ft. in the Adirondacks. Big, 

 Swamp or False hellebore. Duck-retten. Earth-gall. 

 Devil's-bite. Bear-corn. Poor Annie. Itch-weed. 

 Tickle-weed. May-July. 



1. V. viride. 



2. V. IVoodii. 



3. V ' . parviflorum. 



