FIG WORT FAMILY 



TURTLE-HEAD. SHELLFLOWER. CHELONE 



Chelone gldbra 



Chelone, Greek, tortoise, the head of which the corolla 

 resembles. 



A native perennial plant growing in ditches and beside 

 streams. Newfoundland to Florida, and westward to 

 the Mississippi. July-September. 



Stem. — One to three feet high, erect, smooth, square, 

 leafy, hollow, sometimes branched. 



Leaves. — Opposite, lanceolate, serrate, acuminate at 

 apex; narrowed at base; veins very marked beneath. 



Flowers. — White, tinged with pink or all white, about 

 an inch long, growing in a dense, terminal spike-like 

 cluster; lower flowers blooming first. 



Calyx. — Five-parted, bracted at base. 



Corolla. — Irregular, broadly tubular, two-lipped; upper 

 lip arched, swollen, slightly notched; lower lip three- 

 lobed, spreading, woolly within; front view flat, suggesting 

 a reptilian mouth. 



Stamens. — Five, two in pairs and one sterile; filament 

 white, with short hairs; anthers white, woolly; pollen 

 white. 



Pistil. — Style white, long, slender. 



Both the Greek and the English names of this plant 

 emphasize the distinctly reptiUan suggestion made 

 by the corolla. The poise of the flower, the keeled 

 upper part, the inflated lip and the small mouth, the 

 flattened head, all produce a result that, if not strong 

 enough to be a resemblance, is distinctly a suggestion. 



Chelone is a rather common and familiar plant, 

 which overlooks many a running stream and sees itself 

 reflected in the water mirror of many a quiet pond. 



198 



