374 Class XXIII. Order I. 



late, somewhat hastate ; calyx of the seed somewhat 

 muricate on the disc. Sm. 



Stem spreading, very much branched. Leaves powdery un- 

 derneath, the lower ones mostly hastate, the upper ones lanceo- 

 late. Racemes axiihiry and terminal. The seed is inclosed be- 

 tween two large, triangular valves, furnished on their back with 

 an irregular number of short, conical points. Salt marshes. 

 August. Annual. 



435. VERATRUM. 



VERATRUM VIRIDE. Ait. Poke Root. American Hellebore. 

 Bigelow, Medical Botany, PI. xxxiii. 



Panicle downy ; partial bractes longer than their 

 pedicels. Segments of the corolla thickened on the 

 inside at base. 



A large, green, leafy plant, not uncommon in meadows and 

 swamps. The root is thick and fleshy, its upper portion tuni- 

 cated, its lower half solid and sending forth a multitude of large, 

 whitish radicles. The stem is from three to five feet high, 

 roundish, solid, striated and pubescent. Throughout the greater 

 part of its length it is closely invested with the sheathing bases 

 of the leaves. The lower leaves are large, from half a foot to a 

 foot long, oval, acuminate, pubescent, strongly plaited and nerv- 

 ed ; the lower part of their edges meeting round their stem. 

 The upper leaves become gradually narrower, and the upper- 

 most, which perform the office of bractes, are linear-lanceolate. 

 The flowers are numerous and distributed in compound racemes, 

 axillary from the upper leaves, and terminal ; the whole form- 

 ing a sort of panicle. Peduncles roundish, downy. Bractes 

 boat-shaped, acuminate, downy. The pedicel of each flower is 

 many times shorter than its bracte. Calyx none. Corolla divid- 

 ed into six green, oval, acute, nerved segments, of which the al- 

 ternate ones are longest. All the segments are contracted at 

 base into a sort of claw with a thickened or cartilaginous edge. 

 Stamens six with recurved filaments and roundish, two lobed an- 

 thers. Germs three, cohering, with acute recurved styles as 

 long as the stamens. A part of the flowers are barren and have 

 only the rudiments of styles, so that the plant is strictly polyga- 



