504 Handbook of Nature-Study 



important element in the food of all kinds of bee brood. But the blood- 

 root's fragile blossoms are elusive and do not remain long; like their 

 relatives, the poppies, their petals soon fall, and their white masses dis- 

 appear like the snow-drifts which so recently occupied the same nooks. 



The way the bloodroot leaf enfolds the flower-bud seems like such an 

 obvious plan for protection, that we are unthinkingly prone to attribute 

 consciousness to the little plants. 



Not only does the leaf enfold the bud, but it continues to enfold the 

 flower stem after the blossom opens. There are two sepals which enclose 

 the bud, but fall off as the flower opens. There are ordinarily eight white 

 petals, although there may be twelve; usually every other one of the 

 eight petals is longer than its neighbors, and this makes the blossom 

 rather square than circular in outline. There are many stamens, often 

 24, and the anthers are brilliant yellow with whitish filaments. The two- 

 lobed stigma opens to receive pollen before the pollen of its own flower is 

 ripe. The stigma is large, yellow, and set directly on the ovary, and is 

 quite noticeable in the freshly opened blossoms. It is likely to shrivel 

 before its home-grown pollen is ripe. The blossoms open wide on sunny 

 mornings; the petals rise up in the afternoon and close at night, and also 

 remain closed during dark, stormy days until they are quite old, when 

 they remain carelessly open; they are now ready to fall to the ground at 

 the slightest jar, leaving the oblong, green seed-pod set on the stem at a 

 neat bevel, and perhaps still crowned with the yellowish stigma. The 

 seed-pod is oblong and pointed and remains below the protecting leaf. 

 There are many yellowish or brownish seeds. 



When the plant appears above ground, the leaf is wrapped in a cylinder 

 about the bud, and it is a very pretty leaf, especially the "wrong side," 

 which forms the outside of the roll; it is pale green with a network of 

 pinkish veins, and its edges are attractively lobed; the petiole is fleshy, 

 stout and reddish amber in color. The flower stem is likewise fleshy and 

 is tinged with raw sienna; the stems of both leaf and flower stand side by 

 side, and are held together at the base by two scapes with parallel veins. 

 Later in the season, the leaf having done its full duty as a nurse waxes 

 opulent, often measuring six inches across and having a petiole ten inches 

 long. It is then one of the most beautiful leaves in the forest carpet, its 

 circular form and deeply lobed edges rendering it a fit subject for decora- 

 tive design. 



The rootstock is large and fleshy, and in it is stored the food which 

 enables the flower to blossom early, before any food has been made by 

 the new leaves. There are many stout and rather short roots that fringe 

 the rootstock. Once in clearing a path through a woodland, we happened 

 to hack off a mass of these rootstocks, and we stood aghast at the gory 

 results. We had admired the bloodroot flowers in this place in the 

 spring, and we felt as guilty as if we had inadvertently hacked into a 

 friend. 



LESSON CXIX 



BLOODROOT 



Leading thought The bloodroot has a fleshy rootstock, in which is 

 stored tood for the nourishment of the blossom in early spring. The 

 flower bud is at first protected by the folded leaf. The juice of the root- 

 stock is a vivid light crimson, and was used by Indians as a v/ar paint. 



