XVIII. 1. TWIN-FLOWER OF THE WOODS. 353 



with its border five-lobed ; stamens five, sometimes only four, 

 inserted in the throat of the corolla and alternate with its lobes; 

 ovary three-, sometimes five-celled ; fruit a one-celled, some- 

 times three- or five-celled berry, with one or several seeds. 

 The woody plants have a soft, light, more or less abundant 

 pith, wood usually brittle, and bark which becomes loose and 

 stringy. 



There are four genera found native in Massachusetts : — 



The Twin-Flower, Li?ma; K a, an humble, trailing, evergreen 

 herb, with four stamens ; 



The Feverwort, Triosteum, an erect, simple, herbaceous plant 

 with five stamens ; 



The Honeysuckle, Lonicera, a climber, with one- to three- 

 celled, few-seeded berries ; and 



The Bush Honeysuckle, Diervilla, an erect plant, with one- 

 to three -celled, many- seeded berries. 



XVIII. 1. THE TWIN-FLOWER, LINNMA. Gronovius. 



A genus containing a single species, which is a creeping, ever- 

 green herb, indigenous to the northern part of the old and new 

 world, with an ovate calyx-tnbe, four stamens, two of them 

 longer, inserted into the base of the corolla, a three-celled ovary; 

 and fruit, a dry, three-sided, one-seeded berry. 



The Twin-Flower of the Woods. L. borealis. Gronovius. 



Figured in Hooker's Flora Londinensis, Plate 199. 



In the pine woods in the northern parts of New England, 

 where moss-covered columns support, at a great height, a 

 thick, close top, the shaded ground is often carpeted with the 

 leaves of this delicate and beautiful flower, alone, or intermin- 

 gled with moss. Its woody stem creeps to the distance of several 

 feet along or just beneath the surface, the raised branches send- 

 ing out pairs of very small, roundish leaves, and at intervals, a 

 slender, erect thread, bearing a pair of modest, drooping, fra- 

 grant flowers, white or tinged with a faint blush of rose-color 

 or purple. The leaves are one fourth or one half an inch long, 

 46 



